BV    r.a. 


PREFACE. 

A  LAKGE  part  of  the  following  biography  relates  to  a  period 
of  American  history  as  yet  unwritten,  and  is  intended  to  supply 
historians  with  material  which,  except  in  such  a  form,  would  be 
little  likely  to  see  the  light.  The  principal  private  source  from 
which  the  author  has  drawn  his  information  is  of  course  the  rich 
collection  of  papers  which  Albert  Gallatin  left  behind  him  in 
the  hands  of  his  only  now  surviving  son  and  literary  executor, 
under  whose  direction  these  volumes  are  published.  By  the 
liberality  and  courtesy  of  Mr.  Evarts,  Secretary  of  State,  and 
the  active  assistance  of  the  admirable  organization  of  the  State 
Department,  much  material  in  the  government  archives  at 
Washington  has  been  made  accessible,  without  which  the  story 
must  have  been  little  more  than  a  fragment.  The  interesting 
series  of  letters  addressed  to  Joseph  H.  Nicholson  are  drawn 
from  the  Nicholson  MSS.,  which  Judge  Alexander  B.  Hagner 
kindly  placed  in  the  author's  hands  at  a  moment  when  he  had 
abandoned  the  hope  of  tracing  them.  For  other  valuable  papers 
and  information  he  is  indebted  to  Miss  Sarah  N.  Randolph,  of 
Edgehill,  the  representative  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  Nicholases, 
and  the  Randolphs.  The  persevering  inquiries  of  Mr.  William 
Wirt  Henry,  of  Richmond,  have  resulted  in  filling  some  serious 
gaps  in  the  narrative,  and  the  antiquarian  research  of  Mr.  James 
Veech,  of  Pittsburg,  has  been  freely  put  at  the  author's  service. 
Finally,  he  has  to  recognize  the  unfailing  generosity  with  which 
his  numerous  and  troublesome  demands  have  been  met  by  one 
whose  path  it  is  his  utmost  hope  in  some  slight  degree  to  have 
smoothed, — his  friendly  adviser,  George  Bancroft. 

WASHINGTON,  May,  1879. 

(iii) 


.  librae 


Cruz  1986 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


PAG* 

BOOK      I.— YOUTH.     1761-1790 1 

BOOK    II.— THE  LEGISLATURE.    1789-1801 76 

BOOK  III.— THE  TREASURY.    1801-1813 267 

BOOK  IV.— DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829 493 

BOOK    V.—  AGE.     1830-1849  635 


LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN. 


BOOK    I. 

YOUTH.    1761-1790. 

JEAN  DE  GALLATIN,  who,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
revolution,  was  second  in  command  of  the  regiment  of  Chateau- 
vieux  in  the  service  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  a  devout  believer  in 
the  antiquity  of  his  family,  maintained  that  the  Gallatins  were 
descended  from  A.  Atilius  Callatinus,  consul  in  the  years  of 
Rome  494  and  498 ;  in  support  of  this  article  of  faith  he  fought 
a  duel  with  the  Baron  de  Pappenheim,  on  horseback,  with 
sabres,  and,  as  a  consequence,  ever  afterwards  carried  a  sabre- 
cut  across  his  face.  His  theory,  even  if  held  to  be  unshaken  by 
the  event  of  this  wager  of  battle,  is  unlikely  ever  to  become  one 
of  the  demonstrable  facts  of  genealogy,  since  a  not  unimportant 
gap  of  about  fifteen  hundred  years  elapsed  between  the  last  con- 
sulship of  the  Roman  Gallatin  and  the  earliest  trace  of  the  modern 
family,  found  in  a  receipt  signed  by  the  Abbess  of  Bellacomba 
for  "  quindecim  libras  Viennenses"  bequeathed  to  her  convent 
by  "Dominus  Fulcherius  Gallatini,  Miles/7  in  the  year  1258. 
Faulcher  Gallatini  left  no  other  trace  of  his  existence ;  but  some 
sixty  years  later,  in  1319,  a  certain  Guillaume  Gallatini,  Cheva- 
lier, with  his  son  Humbert  Gallatini,  Damoiseau,  figured  dimly 
in  legal  documents,  and  Humbert's  grandson,  Henri  Gallatini, 
Seigneur  de  Granges,  married  Agnes  de  Lenthenay,  whose  will, 
dated  1397,  creating  her  son  Jean  Gallatini  her  heir,  fixes  the 
local  origin  of  the  future  Genevan  family.  Granges  was  an 
estate  in  Bugey,  in  the  province  of  which  Bellay  was  the  capital, 
then  a  part  of  Savoy,  but  long  since  absorbed  in  France,  and  now 

1  1 


2  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1761. 

embraced  in  the  De"partement  de  PAin.  It  lay  near  the  Rhone, 
some  thirty  or  forty  miles  below  Geneva,  and  about  the  same 
distance  above  Lyons.  This  Jean  Gallatini,  Seigneur  de  Granges 
and  of  many  other  manors,  was  an  equerry  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  a  man  of  importance  in  his  neighborhood.  He  too  had  a  son 
Jean,  who  was  also  an  equerry  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  a  man 
of  gravity,  conscientious  in  his  opinions  and  serious  in  his  acts. 
Not  only  Duke  Philibert  but  even  Pope  Leo  X.  held  him  in 
esteem;  the  Duke  made  him  his  secretary  with  the  title  of  Vice 
Comes,  and  the  Pope  clothed  him  with  the  dignity  of  Apostolic 
Judge,  with  the  power  to  create  one  hundred  and  fifty  notaries  and 
public  judges,  and  with  the  further  somewhat  invidious  privilege 
of  legitimatizing  an  equal  number  of  bastards.  Notwithstanding 
this  mark  of  apostolic  favor  conferred  011  the  "  venerabilis  vir 
dominus  Johannes  Gallatinus,  civis  Gebennensis"  by  a  formal  act 
dated  at  Salerno  in  1522,  Jean  Gallatin  was  not  an  obedient  son 
of  the  Church.  For  reasons  no  longer  to  be  ascertained,  he  had 
in  1510  quitted  his  seigniories  and  his  services  in  Savoy  and  caused 
himself  to  be  enrolled  as  a  citizen  of  Geneva.  The  significance 
of  this  act  rests  in  the  fact  that  the  moment  he  chose  for  the 
change  was  that  which  immediately  preceded  the  great  revolution 
in  Genevan  history  when  the  city  tore  itself  away  not  only  from 
Savoy  but  from  the  Church.  Jean  Gallatin  was  a  man  of  too 
much  consequence  not  to  be  welcomed  at  Geneva.  He  linked 
his  fortunes  with  hers,  became  a  member  of  the  Council,  and 
joined  in  the  decree  which,  in  1535,  deposed  the  Prince  Bishop 
and  abrogated  the  power  of  the  Pope.  He  died  in  1536,  the 
year  Calvin  came  to  Geneva,  and  the  Gallatins  were  so  far 
among  the  close  allies  of  the  great  reformer  that  a  considerable 
number  of  his  letters  to  them  were  still  preserved  by  the  family 
until  stolen  or  destroyed  by  some  of  the  wilder  reformers  who 
accompanied  the  revolutionary  armies  of  France  in  1794.1 

After  the  elevation  of  Geneva  to  the  rank  of  a  sovereign 
republic  in  1535,  the  history  of  the  Gallatins  is  the  history  of 
the  city.  The  family,  if  not  the  first  in  the  state,  was  second 

1  A  more  detailed  account  of  the  Gallatin  genealogy  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix  to  vol.  iii.  of  Gallatin's  Writings,  p.  593. 


1761.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  3 

to  none.  Government  was  aristocratic  in  this  small  republic, 
and  of  the  eleven  families  into  whose  hands  it  fell  at  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  the  Gallatins  furnished  syndics  and  coun- 
sellors, with  that  regularity  and  frequency  which  characterized 
the  mode  of  selection,  in  a  more  liberal  measure  than  any  of 
the  other  ten.  Five  Gallatins  held  the  position  of  first  syndic, 
and  as  such  were  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  republic.  Many 
were  in  the  Church ;  some  were  professors  and  rectors  of  the 
University.  They  counted  at  least  one  political  martyr  among 
their  number, — a  Gallatin  who,  charged  with  the  crime  of  being 
head  of  a  party  which  aimed  at  popular  reforms  in  the  constitu- 
tion, was  seized  and  imprisoned  in  1698,  and  died  in  1719,  after 
twenty-one  years  of  close  confinement.  They  overflowed  into 
foreign  countries.  Pierre,  the  elder  son  of  Jean,  was  the  source 
of  four  distinct  branches  of  the  family,  which  spread  and  mul- 
tiplied in  every  direction,  although  of  them  all  no  male  repre- 
sentative now  exists  except  among  the  descendants  of  Albert 
Gallatin.  One  was  in  the  last  century  a  celebrated  physician  in 
Paris,  chief  of  the  hospital  established  by  Mme.  Necker ;  another 
was  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  who, 
when  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Jena,  in  1806,  com- 
mended his  minister  to  the  King  of  Wiirtemberg  as  his  best  and 
dearest  friend.  The  King  respected  this  dying  injunction,  and 
Count  Gallatin,  in  1819,  was,  as  will  be  seen,  the  Wiirtemberg 
minister  at  Paris. 

That  the  Gallatins  did  not  restrict  their  activity  to  civil  life 
is  a  matter  of  course.  There  were  few  great  battle-fields  in 
Europe  where  some  of  them  had  not  fought,  and  not  very  many 
where  some  of  them  had  not  fallen.  Voltaire  testifies  to  this 
fact  in  the  following  letter  to  Cqunt  d'Argental,  which  contains 
a  half-serious,  half-satirical  account  of  their  military  career : 

VOLTAIRE   TO   THE   COUNT   D'ARGENTAL. 

9  fevrier,  1761. 

Voici  la  plus  belle  occasion,  mon  cher  ange,  d'exercer  votre 
ministere  celeste.  II  s'agit  du  meilleur  office  que  je  puisse  rece- 
voir  de  vos  bontes. 


4  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  ATI  N.  1761. 

Je  vous  conjure,  men  cher  et  respectable  ami,  d'employer  tout 
votre  credit  aupres  de  M.  le  Due  de  Choiseul;  aupres  de  ses 
amis ;  s'il  le  faut,  aupres  de  sa  maitresse,  &c.,  &c.  Et  pourquoi 
ose"-je  vous  demander  tant  d'appui,  tant  de  zele,  tant  de  vivacite", 
et  surtout  un  prompt  succes?  Pour  le  bien  du  service,  mon  cher 
ange;  pour  battre  le  Due  de  Brunsvick.  M.  Galatin,  officier 
aux  gardes  suisses,  qui  vous  pr£sentera  ma  tres-humble  requite, 
est  de  la  plus  ancienne  famille  de  Geneve ;  ils  se  font  tuer  pour 
nous  de  pere  en  fils  depuis  Henri  Quatre.  L'oncle  de  celui-ci  a  e"te" 
tue*  devant  Ostende ;  son  frere  Pa  6te  a  la  malheureuse  et  abomi- 
nable journe"e  de  Rosbach,  a  ce  que  je  crois;  jour  ne'e  ou  les  regi- 
ments suisses  firent  seuls  leur  devoir.  Si  ce  n'est  pas  a  Rosbach, 
c'est  ailleurs ;  le  fait  est  qu'il  a  e"te  tu6 ;  celui-ci  a  etc"  blesse".  II 
sert  depuis  dix  ans ;  il  a  ete  aide-major ;  il  veut  1'etre.  II  faut 
des  aides-major  qui  parlent  bien  allemand,  qui  soient  actifs,  intel- 
ligens ;  il  est  tout  cela.  Enfin  vous  saurez  de  lui  precisement  ce 
qu'il  lui  faut ;  c'est  en  g^n^ral  la  permission  d'aller  vite  chercher 
la  mort  a  votre  service.  Faites-lui  cette  grace,  et  qu'il  ne  soit 
point  tu6,  car  il  est  fort  aimable  et  il  est  neveu  de  cette  Mme. 
Calendrin  que  vous  avez  vue  e*tant  enfant.  Mme.  sa  mere  est 
bien  aussi  aimable  que  Mme.  Calendrin. 

One  Gallatin  fell  in  1602  at  the  Escalade,  famous  in  Genevan 
history;  another  at  the  siege  of  Ostend,  in  1745;  another  at  the 
battle  of  Marburg,  in  1760;  another,  the  ninth  of  his  name  who 
had  served  in  the  Swiss  regiment  of  Aubonne,  fell  in  1788,  act- 
ing as  a  volunteer  at  the  siege  of  Octzakow ;  still  another,  in 
1797,  at  the  passage  of  the  Rhine.  One  commanded  a  battalion 
under  Rochambeau  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown.  But  while  these 
scattered  members  of  the  family  were  serving  with  credit  and 
success  half  the  princes  of  Christendom,  the  main  stock  was 
always  Genevan  to  the  core  and  pre-eminently  distinguished  in 
civil  life. 

In  any  other  European  country  a  family  like  this  would  have 
had  a  feudal  organization,  a  recognized  head,  great  entailed 
estates,  and  all  the  titles  of  duke,  marquis,  count,  and  peer 
which  royal  favor  could  confer  or  political  and  social  influence 
could  command.  Geneva  stood  by  herself.  Aristocratic  as  her 


1761.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  5 

government  was,  it  was  still  republican,  and  the  parade  of  rank 
or  wealth  was  not  one  of  its  chief  characteristics.  All  the  honors 
and  dignities  which  the  republic  could  give  were  bestowed  on 
the  Gallatin  family  with  a  prodigal  hand;  but  its  members  had 
no  hereditary  title  other  than  the  quaint  prefix  of  Noble,  and  the 
right  to  the  further  prefix  of  de,  which  they  rarely  used;  they  had 
no  great  family  estate  passing  by  the  law  of  primogeniture,  no 
family  organization  centring  in  and  dependent  on  a  recognized 
chief.  Integrity,  energy,  courage,  and  intelligence  were  for  the 
most  part  the  only  family  estates  of  this  aristocracy,  and  these 
were  wealth  enough  to  make  of  the  little  city  of  Geneva  the 
most  intelligent  and  perhaps  the  purest  society  in  Europe.  The 
austere  morality  and  the  masculine  logic  of  Calvin  were  here 
at  home,  and  there  was  neither  a  great  court  near  by,  nor  great 
sources  of  wealth,  to  counteract  or  corrupt  the  tendencies  of 
Calvin's  teachings.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  Gallatins  swarmed  in  every  position  of  dignity  or  useful- 
ness in  their  native  state  and  in  every  service  abroad,  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  one  of  them  ever  attained  very  great  wealth,  or 
asserted  a  claim  of  superior  dignity  over  his  cousins  of  the  name. 
Yet  the  name,  although  the  strongest,  was  not  their  only  common 
tie.  A  certain  Francois  Gallatin,  who  died  in  1699,  left  by 
will  a  portion  of  his  estate  in  trust,  its  income  to  be  expended  for 
the  aid  or  relief  of  members  of  the  family.  This  trust,  known 
as  the  Bourse  Gallatin,  honestly  and  efficiently  administered, 
proved  itself  to  be  all  that  its  founder  could  ever  have  desired. 

One  of  the  four  branches  of  this  extensive  family  was  repre- 
sented in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  Abraham 
Gallatin,  who  lived  on  his  estate  at  Pregny,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  spots  on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  near  Geneva,  and 
who  is  therefore  known  as  Abraham  Gallatin  of  Pregny.  His 
wife,  whom  he  had  married  in  1732,  was  Susanne  Vaudenet, 
commonly  addressed  as  Mme.  Gal  latin- Vaudenet.  They  were, 
if  not  positively  wealthy,  at  least  sufficiently  so  to  maintain  their 
position  among  the  best  of  Genevese  society,  and  Mme.  Gallatin 
appears  to  have  been  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  character, 
intelligence,  and  ambition.  The  world  knows  almost  every 
detail  about  the  society  of  Geneva  at  that  time ;  for,  apart  from 


6  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1761. 

a  very  distinguished  circle  of  native  Genevans,  it  was  the  society 
in  which  Voltaire  lived,  and  to  which  the  attention  of  much  that 
was  most  cultivated  in  Europe  was  for  that  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  directed.  Voltaire  was  a  near  neighbor  of  the  Gallatins 
at  Pregny.  Notes  and  messages  were  constantly  passing  between 
the  two  houses.  Dozens  of  these  little  billets  in  Voltaire's  hand 
are  still  preserved.  Some  are  written  on  the  back  of  ordinary 
playing-cards.  The  deuce  of  clubs  says : 

"  Nous  sommes  aux  ordres  de  Mme.  Galatin.  Nous  tacherons 
d'employer  ferblantier.  Parlement  Paris  refuse  tout  6dit  et  veut 
que  le  roi  demande  pardon  a  Parlement  Bezai^on.  Anglais  ont 
voulu  rebombarder  Havre.  N'ont  r6ussi.  Carosse  a  une  heure  J. 
Kespects." 

There  is  no  date ;  but  this  is  not  necessary,  for  the  contents 
seem  to  fix  the  date  for  the  year  1756.  A  note  endorsed  "Des 
Delices"  is  in  the  same  tone : 

"  Lorsque  V.  se  presente  chez  sa  voisine,  il  n'a  d'autre  affaire, 
d'autre  but,  que  de  lui  faire  sa  cour.  Nous  attendons  pour  faire 
des  repetitions  le  retour  du  Tyran  qui  a  nial  a  la  poitrine.  S'il 
y  a  quelques  nouvelles  de  Berlin,  Mr.  Gallatin  est  supplie"  d'en 
faire  part.  Mille  respects." 

Another,  of  the  year  1759,  is  on  business  : 

"  Comment  se  porte  notre  malade,  notre  chere  voisine,  notre 
ch£re  fille  ?  J'ai  e"te  aux  vignes,  madame.  Les  guepes  mangent 
tout,  et  ce  qu'elles  ne  mangent  point  est  sec.  Le  vigneron  de 
Mme.  du  Tremblay  est  venu  me  faire  ses  representations.  Mes 
tonneaux  ne  sont  pas  relic's,  a-t-il  dit ;  differez  vendange.  Relie 
tes  tonneaux,  ai-je  dit.  Vos  raisins  ne  sont  pas  murs,  a-t-il  dit. 
Va  les  voir,  ai-je  dit.  II  y  a  e"te ;  il  a  vu.  Vendangez  au  plus 
vite,  a-t-il  dit.  Qu'ordonnez-vous,  madame,  au  voisin  V.  ?" 

Another  of  the  same  year  introduces  Mme.  Gallatin's  figs,  of 
which  she  seems  to  have  been  proud : 

"  Vos  figues,  madame,  sont  un  present  d'autant  plus  beau  que 
nous  pouvons  dire  comme  Pautre :  car  ce  n'etait  pas  le  temps  des 
figues.  Nous  n'en  avons  point  aux  Delices,  mais  nous  aurons  un 
theatre  a  Tourney.  Et  nous  partons  dans  une  heure  pour  venir 
vous  voir.  Eecevez  vous  et  toute  votre  famille,  madame,  les 
tendres  respects  de  V." 


1761.  Y'OUTH.     1761-1790.  7 

"Vous  me  donnez  plus  de  figues,  madame,  qu'il  n'y  en  a 
dans  le  pays  de  papimanie;  et  moi,  madame,  je  suis  comme 
le  figuier  de  Pfivangile,  sec  et  maudit.  Ce  n'est  pas  comme 
acteur,  c'est  comme  tres-attache"  &  toute  votre  famille  que  je 
m'int^resse  bien  vivement  a  la  sant6  de  Mme.  Galatin-Rolaz. 
Nous  repStons  mardi  en  habits  pontificaux.  Ceux  qui  ont  des 
billets  viendront  s'ils  veulent.  Je  suis  a  vous,  madame,  pour 
ma  vie.  V." 

Then  follows  a  brief  note  dated  "  Ferney,  18e  7re,"  1761  : 
"Nous  comptions  revenir  tous  souper  a  Ferney  apres  la 
comedie.  Mr.  le  Due  de  Villars  nous  retint;  notre  carosse  se 
rompit ;  nous  essuyames  tous  les  contretemps  possibles ;  la  vie 
en  est  sem4e ;  mais  le  plus  grand  de  tous  est  de  n'avoir  pas  eu 
Thonneur  de  souper  avec  vous." 

One  of  the  friends  for  whom  Mme.  Gallatin- Vaudenet  seems 
to  have  felt  the  strongest  attachment,  and  with  whom  she  cor- 
responded, was  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel,  a  personage  not 
favorably  known  in  American  history.  The  Landgrave,  in  1776, 
sent  Mme.  Gallatin  his  portrait,  and  Mme.  Gallatin  persuaded 
Voltaire  to  write  for  her  a  copy  of  verses  addressed  to  the  Land- 
grave, in  recognition  of  this  honor.  Here  they  are  from  the 
original  draft : 

"  J'ai  baise  ce  portrait  charmant, 

Je  vous  1'avourai  sans  mystere. 

Mes  filles  en  ont  fait  autant, 

Mais  c'est  un  secret  qu'il  faut  taire. 

Vous  trouverez  bon  qu'une  mere 

Vous  parle  un  peu  plus  hardiment ; 

Et  vous  verrez  qu'egalement 

En  tous  les  temps  vous  savez  plaire."  J 

The  success  of  Mme.  Gallatin  in  the  matter  of  figs  led  Vol- 
taire to  beg  of  her  some  trees ;  but  his  fortune  was  not  so  good 
as  hers. 

"  lOe  Auguste,  1768,  a  Ferney.  Vous  6tes  b6nie  de  Dieu, 
madame.  II  y  a  six  ans  que  je  plante  des  figuiers,  et  pas  un  ne 
reussit.  Ce  serait  bien  la  le  cas  de  secher  mes  figuiers.  Mais 
si  j'avais  des  miracles  a  faire,  ce  ne  serait  pas  celui-la.  Je  me 

1  Printed  in  Voltaire's  Works,  xii.  371  (ed.  1819.) 


g  LIFEOFALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1761. 

borne  a  vous  remercier,  madame.  Je  crois  qu'il  n'y  a  que  les 
vieux  figuiers  qui  donnent.  La  vieillesse  est  encore  bonne  a 
quelque  chose.  J'ai  comme  vous  des  chevaux  de  trente  ans; 
c'est  ce  qui  fait  que  je  les  aime ;  il  n'y  a  rien  de  tel  que  les  vieux 
amis.  Les  jeunes  pourtant  ne  sont  pas  a  mSpriser,  mesdames. 
V." 

One  more  letter  by  Voltaire  is  all  that  can  find  room  here. 
The  Landgrave  seems  to  have  sent  by  Mme.  Gallatin  some  as- 
paragus seed  to  Voltaire,  which  he  acknowledged  in  these  words : 

VOLTAIKE   TO   THE   LANDGRAVE   OF   HESSE. 

Le  15e  septembre,  1772,  DE  FERNET. 

MONSEIGNEUK, — Mme.  Gallatin  m'a  fait  voir  la  lettre  ou 
votre  Altesse  Se'renissime  montre  toute  sa  sagesse,  sa  bonte*  et  son 
gout  en  parlant  d'un  jeune  homme  dont  la  raison  est  un  peu 
e"gare"e.  Je  vois  que  dans  cette  lettre  elle  m'accorde  un  bienfait 
trSs-signale",  qu'on  doit  rarement  attendre  des  princes  et  meme 
des  mSdecins.  Elle  me  donne  un  brevet  de  trois  ans  de  vie,  car 
il  faut  trois  ans  pour  faire  venir  ces  belles  asperges  dont  vous  me 
gratifiez.  Agre"ez,  monseigneur,  mes  tres-humbles  remerciements. 
J'ose  espe>er  de  vous  les  renouveler  dans  trois  ann6es ;  car  enfin 
il  faut  bien  que  je  me  nourrisse  d'esp&rance  avant  que  de  Petre  de 
vos  asperges.  Que  ne  puis-je  £tre  en  6tat  de  venir  vous  demander 
la  permission  de  manger  celles  de  vos  jardins  !  La  belle  Evolu- 
tion de  Suede  opere"e  avec  tant  de  fermete"  et  de  pruolence  par  le 
roi  votre  parent,  donne  envie  de  vivre.  Ce  prince  est  comme 
vous,  il  se  fait  aimer  de  ses  sujets.  C'est  assure"ment  de  toutes 
les  ambitions  la  plus  belle.  Tout  le  reste  a  je  ne  sais  quoi  de 
chime'rique  et  souvent  de  tres-funeste.  Je  souhaite  a  Votre 
Altesse  S6re"nissime  de  longues  anne*es.  C'est  le  seul  souhait  que 
je  puisse  faire ;  vous  avez  tout  le  reste.  Je  suis,  avec  le  plus 
profond  respect,  monseigneur,  de  Votre  Altesse  SerSnissime  le 
tres-humble  et  tr£s-obeissant  serviteur, 

"  Le  vieux  malade  de  Ferney, 

"  VOLTAIRE." 

The  correspondence  of  his  Most  Serene  Highness,  who  made 
himself  thus  loved  by  his  subjects,  cannot  be  said  to  sparkle  like 


1761.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  9 

that  of  Voltaire;  yet,  although  the  Landgrave's  French  was 
little  better  than  his  principles,  one  of  his  letters  to  Mme.  Galla- 
tin  may  find  a  place  here.  The  single  line  in  regard  to  his  troops 
returning  from  America  gives  it  a  certain  degree  of  point  which 
only  Americans  or  Hessians  are  likely  to  appreciate  at  its  full 
value. 

THE  LANDGRAVE  OF  HESSE  TO  M=.  GALLATIN-VAUDENET. 

MADAME  ! — Je  vous  accuse  avec  un  plaisir  infini  la  lettre  que 
vous  avez  bien  voulu  m'toire  le  27  mars  dernier,  et  je  vous  fais 
bien  mes  parfaits  remercimens  de  la  part  que  vous  continuez  de 
prendre  a  ma  sant4,  dont  je  suis,  on  ne  peut  pas  plus,  content. 
La  votre  m'interesse  trop  pour  ne  pas  souhaiter  qu'elle  soit 
e"galement  telle  que  vous  la  de"sirez.  Puisse  la  belle  saison  qui 
vient  de  succ6der  enfin  au  terns  rude  qu'il  a  fait,  la  raffermir 
pour  bien  des  anne"es,  et  puissiez-vous  jouir  de  tout  le  contente- 
ment  que  mes  voeux  empresses  vous  destinent. 

Quoique  la  lettre  dont  vous  avez  charg6  Mr.  Cramer  m'ait  e"te" 
rendue,  j'ai  bien  du  regret  d'avoir  6t6  priv6  du  plaisir  de  faire 
sa  connaissance  personnelle,  puisqu'il  ne  s'est  pas  arrete  a  Cassel, 
et  n'a  fait  que  passer.  Le  temoignage  favorable  que  vous  lui 
donnez  ne  peut  que  prevenir  en  sa  faveur. 

Au  reste  je  suis  sur  le  point  d'entreprendre  un  petit  voi'age 
que  j'ai  m6dit6  depuis  longtems  pour  changer  d'air.  Je  serais 
deja  en  route,  sans  mes  Trouppes  revenus  de  PAmerique,  que  je 
suis  bien  aise  de  revoir  avant  mon  depart,  et  dont  les  derniers 
regimens  seront  rendus  a  Cassel  vers  la  fin  du  mois. 

Continuez-moi  en  attendant  votre  cher  souvenir,  et,  en  faisant 
bien  mes  complimens  a  Mr.  et  a  Mile.  Gallatin,  persuadez-vous 
que  rien  n'est  au-dessus  des  sentimens  vrais  et  invariables  avec 
lesquels  je  ne  finirai  d'etre,  madame,  votre  tr£s-humble  et  tres- 
obeissant  serviteur. 

FREDERIC  L.  D'HESSE. 

CASSEL,  le  25  mai,  1784. 

Mme.  Gallatin-Vaudenet  had  three  children, — one  son  and  two 
daughters.  The  son,  who  was  named  Jean  Gallatin,  was  born 
in  1733,  and  in  1755  married  Sophie  Albertine  Rolaz  du  Rosey 
of  Rolle, — the  Mme.  Gallatin-Rolaz  already  mentioned  in  one  of 


10  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.      1761-1775. 

Voltaire's  notes.  They  had  two  children, — a  boy,  born  on  the 
29th  of  January,  1761,  in  the  city  of  Geneva,  and  baptized  on 
the  following  7th  of  February  by  the  name  of  Abraham  Alfonse 
Albert  Gallatin ;  and  a  girl  about  five  years  older. 

Abraham  Gallatin,  the  grandfather,  was  a  merchant  in  part- 
nership with  his  son  Jean.  Jean  died,  however,  in  the  summer 
of  1765,  and  his  wife,  Mme.  Gallatin-Kolaz,  who  had  talent  and 
great  energy,  undertook  to  carry  on  his  share  of  the  business 
in  her  own  separate  name.  She  died  in  March,  1770.  The 
daughter  had  been  sent  to  Montpellier  for  her  health,  which  she 
never  recovered,  and  died  a  few  years  after,  in  1777.  The  boy, 
Albert,  was  left  an  orphan  when  nine  years  old,  with  a  large 
circle  of  blood-relations ;  the  nearest  of  whom  were  his  grand- 
father Abraham  and  his  grandmother  the  friend  of  Voltaire 
and  of  Frederic  of  Hesse.  The  child  would  naturally  have  been 
taken  to  Pregny  and  brought  up  by  his  grandparents,  but  a 
different  arrangement  had  been  made  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
mother,  and  was  continued  after  her  death.  Mme.  Gallatin- 
Rolaz  had  a  most  intimate  friend,  a  distant  relation  of  her  hus- 
band, Catherine  Pictet  by  name,  unmarried,  and  at  this  time 
about  forty  years  old.  When  Jean  Gallatin  died,  in  1765, 
Mile.  Pictet,  seeing  the  widow  overwhelmed  with  the  care  of 
her  invalid  daughter  and  with  the  charge  of  her  husband's 
business,  insisted  on  taking  the  boy  Albert  under  her  own  care, 
and  accordingly,  on  the  8th  of  January,  1766,  Albert,  then  five 
years  old,  went  to  live  with  her,  and  from  that  time  became  in  a 
manner  her  child. 

Besides  his  grandfather  Abraham  Gallatin  at  Pregny,  and  his 
other  paternal  relations,  Albert  had  a  large  family  connection  on 
the  mother's  side,  and  more  especially  an  uncle,  Alphonse  Rolaz 
of  Rolle,  kind-hearted,  generous,  and  popular.  Both  on  the 
father's  and  the  mother's  side  Albert  had  a  right  to  expect  a 
sufficient  fortune.  His  interests  during  his  minority  were  well 
cared  for,  and  nothing  can  show  better  the  characteristic  economy 
and  carefulness  of  Genevan  society  than  the  mode  of  the  boy's 
education.  For  seven  years,  till  January,  1773,  he  lived  with 
Mile.  Pictet,  and  his  expenses  did  not  exceed  eighty  dollars  a 
year.  Then  he  went  to  boarding-school,  and  in  August,  1775, 


1779.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  H 

to  the  college  or  academy,  where  he  graduated  in  May,  1779. 
During  all  this  period  his  expenses  slightly  exceeded  two  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year.  The  Bourse  Gallatin  advanced  a  com- 
.paratively  large  sum  for  his  education -and  for  the  expenses  of 
his  sister's  illness.  "  No  necessary  expense  was  spared  for  my 
education,"  is  his  memorandum  on  the  back  of  some  old  ac- 
counts of  his  guardian ;  "  but  such  was  the  frugality  observed 
in  other  respects,  and  the  good  care  taken  of  my  property,  that 
in  1786,  when  I  came  of  age,  all  the  debts  had  been  paid  ex- 
cepting two  thousand  four  hundred  francs  lent  by  an  unknown 
person  through  Mr.  Cramer,  who  died  in  1778,  and  with  him 
the  secret  name  of  that  friend,  who  never  made  himself  known 
or  could  be  guessed."  In  such  an  atmosphere  one  might  sup- 
pose that  economists  and  financiers  must  grow  without  the  need 
of  education.  Yet  the  fact  seems  to  have  been  otherwise,  and 
in  Albert  Gallatin's  closest  family  connection,  both  his  grand- 
father Abraham  and  his  uncle  Alphonse  Rolaz  ultimately  died 
insolvent,  and  instead  of  inheriting  a  fortune  from  them  he  was 
left  to  pay  their  debts. 

Of  the  nature  of  Albert's  training  the  best  idea  can  be  got 
from  his  own  account  of  the  Academy  of  Geneva,  contained  in 
a  letter  written  in  1847  and  published  among  his  works.1  At 
that  time  the  academy  represented  all  there  was  of  education  in 
the  little  republic,  and  its  influence  was  felt  in  every  thought  and 
act  of  the  citizens.  "In  its  organization  and  general  outlines 
the  academy  had  not,  when  I  left  Geneva  in  1780,  been  mate- 
rially altered  from  the  original  institutions  of  its  founder.  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  defects  and  erroneous  views,  Calvin  had 
at  all  events  the  learning  of  his  age,  and,  however  objectionable 
some  of  his  religious  doctrines,  he  was  a  sincere  and  zealous 
friend  of  knowledge  and  of  its  wide  diffusion  among  the  people. 
Of  this  he  laid  the  foundation  by  making  the  whole  education 
almost  altogether  gratuitous,  from  the  A  B  C  to  the  time  when 
the  student  had  completed  his  theological  or  legal  studies.  But 
there  was  nothing  remarkable  or  new  in  the  organization  or 
forms  of  the  schools.  These  were  on  the  same  plan  as  colleges 

1  Letter  to  Eben  Dodge,  21st  January,  1847.     Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  638. 


12  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1779. 

were  then,  and  generally  continue  to  be  in  the  old  seminaries  of 
learning.  ...  In  the  first  place,  besides  the  academy  proper, 
there  was  a  preparatory  department  intimately  connected  with  it 
and  under  its  control.  This  in  Geneva  was  called  ( the  College/ 
and  consisted  of  nine  classes,  .  .  .  the  three  lower  of  which,  for 
reading,  writing,  and  spelling,  were  not  sufficient  for  the  wants 
of  the  people,  and  had  several  succursales  or  substitutes  in  various 
parts  of  the  city.  But  for  that  which  was  taught  in  the  six 
upper  classes  (or  in  the  academy),  there  were  no  other  public 
schools  but  the  college  and  the  academy.  In  these  six  classes 
nothing  whatever  was  taught  but  Latin  and  Greek, — Latin  thor- 
oughly, Greek  much  neglected.  Professor  de  Saussure  used  his 
best  endeavors  about  1776,  when  rector  of  the  academy,  to  im- 
prove the  system  of  education  in  the  college  by  adding  some 
elementary  instruction  in  history,  geography,  and  natural  science, 
but  could  not  succeed,  a  great  majority  of  his  colleagues  opposing 
him.  .  .  . 

"When  not  aided  and  stimulated  by  enlightened  parents  or 
friends,  the  students  from  the  time  when  they  entered  the 
academy  (on  an  average  when  about  or  rather  more  than  fifteen 
years  old)  were  left  almost  to  themselves,  and  studied  more  or 
less  as  they  pleased.  But  almost  all  had  previously  passed 
through  at  least  the  upper  classes  of  the  college.  I  was  the 
only  one  of  my  class  and  of  the  two  immediately  preceding  and 
following  me  who  had  been  principally  educated  at  home  and 
had  passed  only  through  the  first  or  upper  class  of  the  college. 
...  In  the  years  1775-1779  the  average  number  of  the  scholars 
in  the  four  upper  classes  of  the  college  was  about  one  hundred, 
and  that  of  the  students  in  the  four  first  years  of  the  academical 
course,  viz.,  the  auditoires  of  belles-lettres  and  philosophy,  about 
fifty,  of  whom  not  more  than  one  or  two  had  not  passed  through 
at  least  the  three  or  four  upper  classes  of  the  college.  Very  few 
mechanics,  even  the  watchmakers,  so  numerous  in  Geneva  and 
noted  for  their  superior  intelligence  and  knowledge,  went  beyond 
the  fifth  and  sixth  classes,  which  included  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  scholars.  As  to  the  lower  or  primary  classes  or 
schools,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  a  citizen  intra  muros 
who  could  not  read  and  write.  The  peasantry  or  cultivators  of 


1779.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  13 

the  soil  in  the  small  Genevese  territory  were,  indeed,  far  more 
intelligent  than  their  Catholic  neighbors,  but  still,  as  in  the 
other  continental  parts  of  Europe,  a  distinct  and  inferior  class, 
with  some  religious  instruction,  but  speaking  patois  (the  great 
obstacle  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge),  and  almost  univer- 
sally not  knowing  how  to  read  or  to  write.  The  population 
intra  muros  was  about  24,000  (in  1535,  at  the  epoch  of  the  Refor- 
mation and  independence,  about  13,000),  of  whom  nearly  one 
third  not  naturalized,  chiefly  Germans  or  Swiss,  exercising  what 
were  considered  as  lower  trades,  tailors,  shoemakers,  &c.,  and 
including  almost  all  the  menial  servants.  I  never  knew  or  heard 
of  a  male  citizen  or  native  of  Geneva  serving  as  such.  The 
number  of  citizens  above  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  having 
a  right  to  vote,  amounted,  exclusively  of  those  residing  abroad, 
to  2000.  .  .  . 

"  There  was  in  Geneva  neither  nobility  nor  any  hereditary 
privilege  but  that  of  citizenship ;  and  the  body  of  citizens  as- 
sembled in  Council  General  had  preserved  the  power  of  laying 
taxes,  enacting  laws,  and  ratifying  treaties.  But  they  could 
originate  nothing,  and  a  species  of  artificial  aristocracy,  composed 
of  the  old  families  which  happened  to  be  at  the  head  of  affairs 
when  independence  was  declared,  and  skilfully  strengthened  by 
the  successive  adoption  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  and 
emigrants,  had  succeeded  in  engrossing  the  public  employments 
and  concentrating  the  real  power  in  two  self-elected  councils  of 
twenty-five  and  two  hundred  members  respectively.  But  that 
power  rested  on  a  most  frail  foundation,  since  in  a  state  which 
consists  of  a  single  city  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  may  in 
twenty-four  hours  overset  the  government.  In  order  to  preserve 
it,  a  moral,  intellectual  superiority  was  absolutely  necessary. 
This  could  not  be  otherwise  attained  than  by  superior  knowl- 
edge and  education,  and  the  consequence  was  that  it  became 
disgraceful  for  any  young  man  of  decent  parentage  to  be  an 
idler.  All  were  bound  to  exercise  their  faculties  to  the  utmost ; 
and  although  there  are  always  some  incapable,  yet  the  number  is 
small  of  those  who,  if  they  persevere,  may  not  by  labor  become, 
in  some  one  branch,  well-informed  men.  Nor  was  that  love  and 
habit  of  learning  long  confined  to  that  self-created  aristocracy. 


14  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  A  TIN.  1779. 

A  salutary  competition  in  that  respect  took  place  between  the 
two  political  parties,  which  had  a  most  happy  effect  on  the  general 
diffusion  of  knowledge. 

"  During  the  sixteenth  and  the  greater  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  Genevese  were  the  counterpart  of  the  Puritans  of 
Old  and  of  the  Pilgrims  of  New  England, — the  same  doctrines, 
the  same  simplicity  in  the  external  forms  of  worship,  the  same 
austerity  of  morals  and  severity  of  manners,  the  same  attention 
to  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning,  the  same  virtues,  and  the 
same  defects, — exclusiveness  and  intolerance,  equally  banishing 
all  those  who  differed  on  any  point  from  the  established  creed, 
putting  witches  to  death,  &c.,  &c.  And  with  the  progress  of 
knowledge  both  about  at  the  same  time  became  tolerant  and 
liberal.  But  here  the  similitude  ends.  To  the  Pilgrims  of  New 
England,  in  common  with  the  other  English  colonists,  the  most 
vast  field  of  enterprise  was  opened  which  ever  offered  itself  to 
civilized  man.  Their  mission  was  to  conquer  the  wilderness,  to 
multiply  indefinitely,  to  settle  and  inhabit  a  whole  continent, 
and  to  carry  their  institutions  and  civilization  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  With  what  energy  and  perseverance  this 
has  been  performed  we  all  know.  But  to  those  pursuits  all  the 
national  energies  were  directed.  Learning  was  not  neglected ; 
but  its  higher  branches  were  a  secondary  object,  and  science  was 
cultivated  almost  exclusively  for  practical  purposes,  and  only 
as  far  as  was  requisite  for  supplying  the  community  with  the 
necessary  number  of  clergymen  and  members  of  the  other 
liberal  professions.  The  situation  of  Geneva  was  precisely  the 
reverse  of  this.  Confined  to  a  single  city  and  without  terri- 
tory, its  inhabitants  did  all  that  their  position  rendered  practi- 
cable. They  created  the  manufacture  of  watches,  which  gave 
employment  to  near  a  fourth  part  of  the  population,  and  carried 
on  commerce  to  the  fullest  extent  of  which  their  geographical 
situation  was  susceptible.  But  the  field  of  active  enterprise 
was  still  the  narrowest  possible.  To  all  those  who  were  am- 
bitious of  renown,  fame,  consideration,  scientific  pursuits  were 
the  only  road  that  could  lead  to  distinction,  and  to  these,  or 
other  literary  branches,  all  those  who  had  talent  and  energy 
devoted  themselves. 


1779.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  15 

"  All  could  not  be  equally  successful ;  few  only  could  attain  a 
distinguished  eminence ;  but,  as  I  have  already  observed,  a  far 
greater  number  of  well  educated  and  informed  men  were  found 
in  that  small  spot  than  in  almost  every  other  town  of  Europe 
which  was  not  the  metropolis  of  an  extensive  country.  This 
had  a  most  favorable  influence  on  the  tone  of  society,  which  was 
not  light,  frivolous,  or  insipid,  but  generally  serious  and  in- 
structive. I  was  surrounded  by  that  influence  from  my  earliest 
days,  and,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  derived  more  benefit  from 
that  source  than  from  my  attendance  on  academical  lectures.  A 
more  general  fact  deserves  notice.  At  all  times,  and  within  my 
knowledge  in  the  years  1770-1780,  a  great  many  distinguished 
foreigners  came  to  Geneva  to  finish  their  education,  among  whom 
were  nobles  and  princes  from  Germany  and  other  northern 
countries ;  there  were  also  not  a  few  lords  and  gentlemen  from 
England ;  even  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  after  he  had  completed 
his  studies  at  Gottingen.  Besides  these  there  were  some  from 
America,  amongst  whom  I  may  count  before  the  American  Revo- 
lution those  South  Carolinians,  Mr.  Kinloch,  William  Smith, — 
afterwards  a  distinguished  member  of  Congress  and  minister  to 
Portugal, — and  Colonel  Laurens,  one  of  the  last  who  fell  in  the 
war  of  independence.  And  when  I  departed  from  Geneva  I 
left  there,  besides  the  two  young  Penns,  proprietors  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Franklin  Bache,  grandson  of  Dr.  Franklin, Johan- 

not,  grandson  of  Dr.  Cooper,  of  Boston,  who  died  young.  Now, 
amongst  all  those  foreigners  I  never  knew  or  heard  of  a  single 
one  who  attended  academical  lectures.  It  was  the  Genevese 
society  which  they  cultivated,  aided  by  private  teachers  in  every 
branch,  with  whom  Geneva  was  abundantly  supplied." 

At  the  academy  Albert  Gallatin  associated  of  course  with  all 
the  young  Genevese  of  his  day.  As  most  of  these  had  no  per- 
manent influence  on  him,  and  maintained  no  permanent  relations 
with  him,  it  is  needless  to  speak  of  them  further.  There  were 
but  two  whose  names  will  recur  frequently  hereafter.  Neither 
of  them  was  equal  to  Gallatin  in  abilities  or  social  advantages, 
but  in  politics  and  philosophy  all  were  evidently  of  one  mind, 
and  the  fortunes  of  all  were  linked  together.  The  name  of 
one  was  Henri  Serre,  that  of  the  other  was  Jean  Badollet. 


16  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1779. 

What  kind  of  men  they  were  will  appear  in  the  course  of  their 
adventures.  A  fourth,  whose  name  is  better  known  than  those 
just  mentioned,  seems  to  have  been  a  close  friend  of  the  other 
three,  but  differed  from  them  by  not  coming  to  America.  He 
was  fitienne  Dumont,  afterwards  the  friend  and  interpreter  of 
Bentham. 

However  enlightened  the  society  of  Pregny  may  have  been 
under  the  influence  of  Voltaire  and  Frederic  of  Hesse,  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  Mme.  Gallatin-Vaudenet  or  any  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Gallatin  family  were  by  tastes  and  interests  likely 
to  lean  towards  levelling  principles  in  politics.  Of  all  people 
in  Geneva  they  were  perhaps  most  interested  in  maintaining 
the  old  Genevese  regime.  The  Gallatins  were  for  the  most 
part  firm  believers  in  aristocracy,  and  Albert  certainly  never 
found  encouragement  for  liberal  opinions  in  his  own  family, 
unless  they  may  have  crept  in  through  the  pathway  of  Voltairean 
philosophy  as  mere  theory,  the  ultimate  results  of  which  were 
not  foreseen.  This  makes  more  remarkable  the  fact  that  young 
Gallatin,  who  was  himself  a  clear-headed,  sober-minded,  practical 
Genevan,  should,  by  some  bond  of  sympathy  which  can  hardly 
have  been  anything  more  than  the  intellectual  movement  of  his 
time,  have  affiliated  with  a  knot  of  young  men  who,  if  not  quite 
followers  of  Rousseau,  were  still  essentially  visionaries.  They 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  order  of  things  in  Geneva.  They 
believed  in  human  nature,  and  believed  that  human  nature  when 
free  from  social  trammels  would  display  nobler  qualities  and 
achieve  vaster  results,  not  merely  in  the  physical  but  also  in  the 
moral  world.  The  American  Revolutionary  war  was  going  on, 
and  the  American  Declaration  of  Independence  embodied,  per- 
haps helped  to  originate,  some  of  their  thoughts. 

With  minds  in  this  process  of  youthful  fermentation,  they 
finished  their  academical  studies  and  came  out  into  the  world. 
Albert  was  graduated  in  May,  1779,  first  of  his  class  in  mathe- 
matics, natural  philosophy,  and  Latin  translation.  Before  this 
time,  in  April,  1778,  he  had  returned  to  Mile.  Pictet,  and  his 
principal  occupation  for  the  year  after  graduating  was  as  tutor 
to  her  nephew,  Isaac  Pictet.  Both  Gallatin  and  Badollet  were 
students  of  English,  and  the  iastruction  given  to  Isaac  Pictet 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  17 

seems  to  have  been  partly  in  English.  Of  course  the  serious 
question  before  him  was  that  of  choosing  a  profession,  and  this 
question  was  one  in  which  his  family  were  interested ;  in  which, 
indeed,  their  advice  would  naturally  carry  decisive  weight.  The 
young  man  was  much  at  Pregny  with  his  grandparents,  where, 
during  his  childhood,  he  often  visited  Voltaire  at  Ferney.  His 
grandmother  had  her  own  views  as  to  his  career.  She  wished 
him  to  take  a  commission  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  military 
service  of  her  friend  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  with  whom  her 
interest  was  sufficient  to  insure  for  him  a  favorable  reception  and 
a  promising  future.  At  that  moment,  it  is  true,  the  military 
prospects  of  the  Landgrave's  troops  in  the  Jerseys  were  not  pecu- 
liarly flattering,  and  the  service  can  hardly  have  been  popular  with 
such  as  might  remember  the  dying  words  of  Colonel  Donop 
at  Red  Bank ;  but  after  all  the  opportunity  was  a  sure  one, 
suitable  for  a  gentleman  of  ancient  family,  according  to  the 
ideas  of  the  time,  and  flattering  to  the  pride  of  Mme.  Gallatin- 
Yaudenet.  She  spoke  to  her  grandson  on  the  subject,  urging 
her  advice  with  all  the  weight  she  could  give  it.  He  replied, 
abruptly,  that  he  would  never  serve  a  tyrant.  The  reply  was 
hardly  respectful,  considering  the  friendship  which  he  knew  to 
exist  between  his  grandmother  and  the  Landgrave,  and  it  is  not 
altogether  surprising  that  it  should  have  provoked  an  outbreak 
of  temper  on  her  part  which  took  the  shape  of  a  box  on  the  ear : 
"  she  gave  me  a  cuff,"  were  Mr.  Gallatin's  own  words  in  telling 
the  story  to  his  daughter  many  years  afterwards.  This  "  cuff" 
had  no  small  weight  in  determining  the  young  man's  course  of 
action. 

Yet  it  would  be  unfair  to  infer  from  this  box  on  the  ear  that 
the  family  attempted  to  exercise  any  unreasonable  control  over 
Albert's  movements.  If  any  one  in  the  transaction  showed 
himself  unreasonable,  it  was  the  young  man,  not  his  relations. 
They  were  ready  to  aid  him  to  the  full  extent  of  their  powers 
in  any  respectable  line  of  life  which  might  please  his  fancy. 
They  would  probably  have  preferred  that  he  should  choose  a 
mercantile  rather  than  a  military  career.  They  would  have  per- 
mitted, and  perhaps  encouraged,  his  travelling  for  a  few  years 
to  fit  himself  for  that  object.  It  was  no  fault  of  theirs  that  he 

2 


18  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1780. 

suddenly  took  the  whole  question  into  his  own  hands,  and,  after 
making  silent  preparations  and  carrying  with  him  such  resources 
as  he  could  then  raise,  on  the  1st  April,  1780,  in  company  with 
his  friend  Serre,  secretly  and  in  defiance  of  his  guardian  and 
relations,  bade  a  long  farewell  to  Geneva  and  turned  his  back 
on  the  past. 

The  act  was  not  a  wise  one.  That  future  which  the  young 
Gallatin  grasped  so  eagerly  with  outstretched  arms  had  little  in 
it  that  even  to  an  ardent  imagination  at  nineteen  could  compen- 
sate for  the  wanton  sacrifice  it  involved.  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  Albert  Gallatin's  career  was  more  brilliant  or 
more  successful  in  America  than  with  the  same  efforts  and  with 
equal  sacrifices  it  might  have  been  in  Europe;  for  his  charac- 
ter and  abilities  must  have  insured  pre-eminence  in  whatever 
path  he  chose.  Both  the  act  of  emigration  and  the  manner  of 
carrying  it  out  were  inconsiderate  and  unreasonable,  as  is  clear 
from  the  arguments  by  which  he  excused  them  at  the  time.  He 
wished  to  improve  his  fortune,  he  said,  and  to  do  this  he  was 
going,  without  capital,  as  his  family  pointed  out,  to  a  land 
already  ruined  by  a  long  and  still  raging  civil  war,  without  a 
government  and  without  trade.  This  was  his  ostensible  reason ; 
and  his  private  one  was  no  better, — that  "  daily  dependence"  on 
others,  and  particularly  on  Mile.  Pictet  and  his  grandmother, 
which  galled  his  pride.  That  he  was  discontented  with  Geneva 
and  the  Genevan  political  system  was  true;  but  to  emigrate 
was  not  the  way  to  mend  it,  and  even  in  emigrating  he  did 
not  pretend  that  his  object  in  seeking  America  was  to  throw 
himself  into  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  He  felt  a  strong 
sympathy  for  the  Americans  and  for  the  political  liberty  which 
was  the  motive  of  their  contest ;  but  this  sympathy  was  rather 
a  matter  of  reason  than  of  passion.  He  always  took  care  to 
correct  the  idea,  afterwards  very  commonly  received,  that  he 
had  run  away  from  his  family  and  friends  in  order  to  fight  the 
British.  So  far  as  his  political  theories  were  concerned,  aversion 
to  Geneva  had  more  to  do  with  his  action  than  any  enthusiasm 
for  war,  and  in  the  list  of  personal  motives  discontent  with  his 
dependent  position  at  home  had  more  influence  over  him  than 
the  desire  for  wealth.  At  this  time,  and  long  afterwards,  he 


1780  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  19 

was  proud  and  shy.  His  behavior  for  many  years  was  controlled 
by  these  feelings,  which  only  experience  and  success  at  last  soft- 
ened and  overcame. 

The  manner  of  departure  was  justified  by  him  on  the  ground 
that  he  feared  forcible  restraint  should  he  attempt  to  act  openly. 
The  excuse  was  a  weak  one,  and  the  weaker  if  a  positive  pro- 
hibition were  really  to  be  feared,  which  was  probably  not  the 
case.  No  one  had  the  power  to  restrain  young  Gallatin  very 
long.  He  might  have  depended  with  confidence  on  having  his 
own  way  had  he  chosen  to  insist.  But  the  spirit  of  liberty  at 
this  time  was  rough  in  its  methods.  Albert  Gallatin's  con- 
temporaries and  friends  were  the  men  who  carried  the  French 
Revolution  through  its  many  wild  phases,  and  at  nineteen  men 
are  governed  by  feeling  rather  than  by  common  sense,  even  when 
they  do  not  belong  to  a  generation  which  sets  the  world  in 
flames. 

However  severe  the  judgment  of  his  act  may  be,  there  was 
nothing  morally  wrong  in  it ;  nothing  which  he  had  not  a  right 
to  do  if  he  chose.  In  judging  it,  too,  the  reader  is  affected  by 
the  fact  that  none  of  his  letters  in  his  own  defence  have  been 
preserved,  while  all  those  addressed  to  him  are  still  among  his 
papers.  These,  too,  are  extremely  creditable  to  his  family,  and 
show  strong  affection  absolutely  free  from  affectation,  and  the 
soundest  good  sense  without  a  trace  of  narrowness.  Among 
them  all,  one  only  can  be  given  here.  It  is  from  Albert's  guar- 
dian, a  distant  relative  in  an  elder  branch  of  the  family. 

P.  M.  GALLATIN   TO  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 

GENEVE,  21e  mai,  1780. 

MONSIEUR, — Avant  que  de  vous  e'er  ire  j'ai  voulu  m'assurer 
cFune  maniSre  plus  precise  que  je  n'avais  pu  le  faire  les  premiers 
jours  de  votre  depart,  et  par  vous-m^me,  quels  e"taient  vos  projets, 
le  but  et  le  motif  de  votre  voyage,  les  causes  qui  avaient  fait 
naitre  une  pareille  ide"e  dans  votre  esprit,  vos  sentimens  passes  et 
pre"sens  et  vos  desirs  pour  Tavenir.  II  m'etait  difficile  a  tous  ces 
e"gards  de  comprendre  comment  vous  ne  vous  6tiez  ouvert  ni  a 
Mile.  Pictet  qui,  vous  le  savez  bien,  ne  vous  avait  jamais  aime"  pour 


20  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1780. 

elle-iueme  mais  pour  vous  seul,  qui  n'a  jamais  voulu  que  votre 
plus  grand  bien,  qui  a  pris  de  vous  non-setilement  les  soins  que  vous 
auriez  pu  attendre  de  madame  votre  mere  avee  laquelle  elle  s'etait 
individualist  a  votre  6gard,  mais  nieme  ceux  que  pen  d'enfants 
e*prouvent  de  leurs  pdres ;  ni  a  moi,  qui  jamais  ne  vous  ai  refus6 
quoi  que  ce  soit,  parcequ'en  effet  les  demandes  en  petit  nombre 
que  vous  m'aviez  faites  jusqu'a  present  m'ont  toujours  paru  sages 
et  raisonnables;  ni  a  aucun  de  vos  parens,  de  qui  vousn'avez  recu 
que  des  douceurs  dans  tout  le  cours  de  votre  vie.  C*est,  je  vous 
Pavouerai,  ce  deTaut  de  confiance,  qui  continue  encore  chez  vous 
a  notre  £gard,  qui  m'afflige  le  plus  vivement,  voyant  surtout  qu'il 
tourne  contre  vous  au  lieu  de  servir  a  votre  avantage.  Croyez- 
vous  done,  monsieur,  a  votre  age,  calculer  niieux  que  les  personnes 
qui  ont  quelque  experience  ?  ou  nous  supposiez-vous  assez  derai- 
sonnables  pour  nous  refuser  a  entrer  dans  des  plans  qui  auraient 
pu  un  jour  vous  conduire  au  bonheur  que  vous  cherehez  ?  II  est 
vrai  qu'il  n'est  point  de  bonheur  parfait  en  ce  monde ;  mais  pensez- 
vous  que  nous  aurions  £t£  sourds  ou  insensibles  a  vos  motifs  les 
plus  secrets  ?  vous  d£fiez-vous  de  notre  discretion  pour  nous  re- 
fuser la  confidence  qui  nous  6tait  due  du  de"veloppernent  successif 
de  vos  sentimens?  est-ce  la  contrainte  pour  le  choix  d'un  etat, 
sont-ce  les  lois  que  nous  vous  avons  inipos^es  pour  quelque  objet 
que  ce  soit,  qui  nous  ont  enleve"  votre  confiance  ?  au  contraire,  ne 
vous  avons-nous  pas  declare  en  diverses  occasions  que  nous  vous 
laissions  cette  Iibert4?  de\-ions-noiis  et  pouvions-nous  nous  at- 
tendre que  vous  Finterpre*teriez  en  une  ind^pendance  absolue  qui 
ne  reconnaitrait  pas  non-seulement  Pautorite  legitime  niais  la 
d^rence  naturelle  et  le  besoin  de  direction  et  de  conseils  ?  Que 
vos  motifs  fussent  bons  ou  mauvais  pour  prendre  le  parti  que 
vous  avez  pris,  je  n'entre  plus  la-dedans.  La  demarche  est  faite 
et  surtout  la  resolution  est  prise ;  je  ne  chercherai  point  £  vous 
en  de"touraer ;  si  vous  ne  re"ussissez  pas,  vous  aurez  6t4  tromp^ 
par  de  faux  raisonnemens,  comme  vous  le  dites,  et  voila  tout. 
Et  quand  ce  projet  nous  aurait  £te  communiqu6  avaut  son  exeeu- 
tion,  quand  nous  vous  Paurions  represent^  aussi  extravagant  qu'il 
nous  le  parait>  quand  nous  vous  aurions  d&aille  les  iuconveniens, 
si  vous  7  aviez  persist^,  nous  aurions  dit  Amen ;  mais  alors  du 
moins  nous  aurions  pu  d'avance  en  pr^venir  un  grand  nombre, 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  21 

diminuer  la  grandeur  de  quelques  autres,  vous  aider  avec  plus  de 
fruit  pour  le  projet  me1  me,  et  avec  moins  d'inconve'niens  en  cas  de 
non-reussite ;  nous  aurions  prepare"  les  voies  autant  qu'il  nous 
aurait  ete  possible  pour  Fexe"cution  et  nous  vous  aurions  facilite* 
le  retour  en  fondant  votre  esp^rance  d'un  sort  heureux  si  jamais 
vous  etiez  force"  de  revenir  ici.  Monsieur  du  Rosey  votre  oncle 
vous  avait  fait  entrevoir  une  situation  aise*e  pour  Favenir ;  mais  si 
une  honnete  mediocrite  n'eut  pas  satisfait  vos  dSsirs  ambitieux, 
ses  oifres  gen^reuses  ne  devaient-elles  pas  lui  ouvrir  votre  coeur 
et  vous  determiner  a  lui  confier  vos  projets  que  (s'il  n'eut  pas  pu 
les  aneantir  par  le  raisonnement  et  la  persuasion)  il  eut  sans  doute 
favorises  ?  Un  ordre  positif!  Avec  quels  yeux  nous  avez-vous 
done  vus?  Aujourd'hui  croyez-vous  cette  defiance  injuste  que 
vous  nous  avez  montre"e  et  par  votre  conduite  et  par  vos  lettres, 
bien  propre  a  le  disposer  en  votre  faveur?  Soyez  certain  ce- 
pendant,  monsieur,  que  je  vous  aiderai  autant  que  votre  fortune 
pourra  le  permettre  sans  deranger  vos  capitaux,  dont  je  dois  vous 
rendre  compte  un  jour  et  que  vous  me  saurez  peut-etre  gre  de  vous 
avoir  conserves;  en  attendant  je  suis  oblige"  par  un  serment 
solennel  pr£t£  en  justice  que  j'observerai  inviolablement  jusques 
a  ce  que  j'en  sois  juridiquement  de"gage";  et  vous  refuser  vos 
capitaux  pour  un  projet  dont  je  ne  saurais  voir  la  fin,  n'est  ni 
infamie  ni  durete",  mais  prudence  et  sagesse. 

Apr£s  ces  observations,  dont  j'ai  cru  que  vous  aviez  besoin, 
permettez-moi  quelques  reflexions  sur  votre  projet.  D'abord  j'ai 
lieu  de  croire  que  la  somme  qui  vous  reste,  ou  qui  vous  restait, 
n'est  pas  a  beaucoup  pres  de  cent  cinquante  louis ;  secondement, 
le  gain  que  vous  pr6tendez  faire  par  le  commerce  d'armement 
est  tr£s-incertain ;  il  est  en  troisieme  lieu  tr^s-lent  a  se  faire 
apercevoir;  en  attendant  il  faut  vivre;  et  comment  vivrez-vous? 
de  lecons  ?  quelle  pitoyable  ressource,  pour  ^tre  la  derni£re,  dans 
un  pays  surtout  oft  les  vivres  sont  si  exorbitamment  chers  et  oft 
tout  le  reste  se  paye  si  mal !  Des  terres  incultes  a  acheter  ?  avec 
quoi  ?  plus  elles  sont  a  bas  prix,  plus  elles  indiquent  la  cherte" 
des  denr^es ;  le  grand  nombre  de  terres  incultes,  le  besoin  qu?on 
a  de  les  deTricher,  sont  deux  preuves  des  sommes  considerables 
qu?il  en  coftte  pour  vivre.  Yos  reflexions  sur  le  gain  a  faire  sur 
ces  terres  et  sur  le  papier,  supposent  d'abord  que  vous  aurez  de 


22  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1780. 

quoi  en  acheter  beaucoup,  supposition  ridicule,  et  feraient  croire 
que  vous  vous  £tes  imaging  disposer  des  e"venemens  au  gre"  de  vos 
souhaits  et  selon  vos  besoins.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Franklin  doit  vous  recommander  a  Philadelphie.  Vous 
j  trouverez  des  ressources  que  bien  d'autres  n'auraient  pas,  mais 
vous  en  aurez  moins  et  vous  les  aurez  plus  tard  que  si  nous 
avions  e"te"  pre"venus  a  terns.  Mr.  Kenlock,  connu  de  Mile. 
Beaulacre  et  de  M.  Muller,  y  est  actuellement  au  Congr£s;  ne 
faites  pas  difficult^  de  le  voir ;  je  ne  saurais  douter  qu'il  lie  vous 
aide  de  ses  conseils  et  que  vous  ne  trouviez  aupres  de  lui  des 
directions  convenables. 

Malgre*  les  choses  desagreables  que  je  puis  vous  avoir  toites 
dans  cette  lettre,  vous  ne  doutez  pas,  je  Fespere,  mon  cher  mon- 
sieur, du  tendre  interet  que  je  prends  a  votre  sort,  qui  me  les  a 
dictees,  et  vous  devez  £tre  persuade  des  voeux  sinceres  que  je  fais 
pour  1'accomplissement  de  vos  desirs.  Le  jeune  Serre  est  plus 
fait  que  vous  pour  reussir ;  son  imagination  ardente  lui  fera 
aisement  trouver  des  ressources,  et  son  courage  actif  lui  fera 
surmonter  les  obstacles ;  mais  votre  indolence  naturelle  en  vous 
livrant  aux  projets  hardis  de  ce  jeune  homme  vous  a  expose*  sans 
reflexion  a  des  dangers  que  je  redoute  pour  vous,  et  si  vous 
comptez  sur  Famitie*  inviolable  que  vous  vous  etes  vouee  Fun  a 
Fautre  (dont  a  Dieu  ne  plaise  que  je  vous  invite  a  vous  defier) 
croyez-vous  cependant  qu'il  soit  bien  delicat  de  se  mettre  dans  le 
cas  d?attendre  ses  ressources  pour  vivre,  uniquenient  de  Fimagi- 
nation  et  du  courage  d'autrui  ?  Adieu,  mon  cher  monsieur ;  ne 
voyez  encore  une  fois  dans  ce  que  je  vous  ai  ecrit  que  le  sentiment 
qui  Fa  dicte*,  et  croyez-moi  pour  la  vie,  mon  cher  monsieur,  votre 
tr^s-afiectionne"  tuteur. 

As  has  been  said,  none  of  Albert's  letters  to  his  family  have 
been  preserved.  Fortunately,  however,  his  correspondence  with 
his  friend  Badollet  has  not  been  lost,  and  the  first  letter  of  this 
series,  written  while  he  was  still  in  the  Loire,  from  on  board  the 
American  vessel,  the  Katty,  in  which  the  two  travellers  had 
taken  passage  from  Nantes  to  Boston,  is  the  only  vestige  of 
writing  now  to  be  found  which  gives  a  certain  knowledge  of  the 
writer's  frame  of  mind  at  the  moment  of  his  departure. 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  23 


GALLATIN  TO  BADOLLET. 

PIMBEUF,  16  mai,  1780. 
O'est  un  port  de  mer,  8  lieues 
[au-dessous  de  Nantes.     Nous] 
nous  y  ennuyons  beaucoup. 

Mon  cher  ami,  pourquoi  ne  m'as-tu  point  e"crit?  j'attendois 
pour  t'e"crire  de  savoir  si  tu  e"tois  a  Clerac  ou  a  Geneve.  J'espere 
que  c'est  a  Clerac,  mais  si  notre  affaire  t'a  fait  manquer  ta  place, 
j'espere,  vu  tout  ce  que  je  vois,  que  nous  pourrons  t'avoir  cette 
annee ;  j'aimerois  cependant  mieux  que  tu  eusses  quelqu'argent, 
parcequ'en  achetant  des  marchandises  tu  gagnerois  prodigieuse- 
ment  dessus.  Si  tu  es  a  Clerac,  c'est  pour  Fannie  prochaine. 
«Fai  re9U  des  lettres  fort  tendres  qui  m'ont  presqu'e'branle'  et 
dans  lesquelles  on  me  promet  en  cas  que  je  persiste,  de  Fargent 
et  des  recommandations.  J'ai  deja  re9U  de  celles-ci,  et  j'ai  fait 
connoissance  ici  avec  des  Ame'ricains  de  distinction.  En  cas 
que  tu  sois  a  Clerac,  je  t'apprendrai  que  nous  sommes  venus  a 
Nantes  dans  cinq  jours  fort  heureusement,  que  nous  avons  trouve 
un  vaisseau  pour  Boston  nomine"  la  Katti,  Cap.  Loring,  qui  par- 
toit  le  lendemain,  mais  nous  avons  e"te"  retenus  ici  depuis  15  jours 
par  les  vents  contraires  et  nous  irons  a  Lorient  chercher  un 
convoi.  Mon  adresse  est  a  Monsieur  Gallatin  a  Philadelphie, 
sous  une  enveloppe  adressee:  A  Messieurs  Struikmann  & 
Meinier  freres,  a  Nantes,  le  tout  affranchi.  Des  details  sur  ta 
place,  je  te  prie.  Nous  ne  craignons  plus  rien ;  on  nous  a  promis 
de  ne  pas  s'opposer  a  notre  dessein  si  nous  persistions.  Hentsch 
s'est  fort  bien  conduit.  Adieu ;  la  poste  part,  j'ai  deja  teit  cinq 
lettres.  Tout  a  toi. 

Serre  te  fait  ses  complimens ;  il  dort  pour  le  moment. 

The  entire  sum  of  money  which  the  two  young  men  brought 
with  them  from  Geneva  was  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  and  two- 
thirds  louis-d'or,  equal  to  four  thousand  livres  tournois,  reck- 
oning twenty-four  livres  to  the  louis.  One-half  of  this  sum 
was  expended  in  posting  across  France  and  paying  their  passage 
to  Boston.  Their  capital  for  trading  purposes  was  therefore 
about  four  hundred  dollars,  which,  however,  belonged  entirely 


24  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1780. 

to  Gallatin,  as  Serre  had  no  means  and  paid  no  part  of  the 
expenses.  For  a  long  time  to  come  they  could  expect  no  more 
supplies. 

Meanwhile,  the  family  at  Geneva  had  moved  heaven  and  earth 
to  smooth  their  path,  and  had  written  or  applied  for  letters  of 
introduction  in  their  behalf  to  every  person  who  could  be  sup- 
posed to  have  influence.  One  of  these  persons  was  the  Due  de  la 
Rochefoucauld  d'Enville,  who  wrote  to  Franklin  a  letter  which 
may  be  found  in  Franklin's  printed  correspondence.1  The  letter 
tells  no  more  than  we  know;  but  Franklin's  reply  is  characteristic. 
Tt  runs  thus : 


BENJ.  FRANKLIN  TO  THE  DUG  DE  LA  ROCHEFOUCAULD  D'ENVILLE. 

PASSY,  May  24,  1780. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  enclose  the  letter  you  desired  for  the  two 
young  gentlemen  of  Geneva.  But  their  friends  would  do  well 
to  prevent  their  voyage. 

With  sincere  and  great  esteem,  I  am,  dear  sir,  your  most 
obedient  and  most  humble  servant, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 

The  letter  enclosed  was  as  follows : 

PASSY,  May  24,  1780. 

DEAR  SON, — Messrs.  Gallatin  and  Serres,  two  young  gentle- 
men of  Geneva,  of  good  families  and  very  good  characters, 
having  an  inclination  to  see  America,  if  they  should  arrive  in 
your  city  I  recommend  them  to  your  civilities,  counsel,  and 
countenance. 

I  am  ever  your  aifectionate  father, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 

To  RICHARD  BACHE,  Postmaster-General,  Philadelphia. 

Lady  Juliana  Penn,  also,  wrote  to  John  Penn  at  Philadelphia 
in  their  favor.  Mile.  Pictet  wrote  herself  to  Colonel  Kinloch, 

1  Sparks's  Franklin,  viii.  454. 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  25 

then  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from  South  Caro- 
lina. Her  description  of  the  young  men  is  probably  more 
accurate  than  any  other :  "  Quoique  je  n'ai  pas  Pavantage  d'etre 
connue  de  vous,  j'ai  trop  entendu  parler  de  I'honn£tet6  et  de  la 
sensibility  de  votre  ame  pour  hesiter  a  vous  demander  un  service 
absolument  essentiel  au  bonheur  de  ma  vie.  Deux  jeunes  gens 
de  ce  pays,  nomine"  Gallatin  et  Serre,  n'e"tant  pas  contents  de  leur 
fortune,  qui  est  effectivement  mediocre,  et  s'e"tant  e'chauffe'  Pimagi- 
nation  du  d6sir  de  s'en  faire  une  cux-m^mes,  aiders  d'un  peu 
d'enthousiasme  pour  les  Americains,  prennent  le  parti  de  passer 
a  Philadelphie.  Us  sont  tous  deux  pleins  d'honneur,  de  bons 
sentiments,  fort  sages,  et  n'ont  jamais  donne"  le  moindre  sujet  de 
plainte  a  leurs  families,  qui  ont  le  plus  grand  regret  de  leur 
depart.  ...  Us  out  tous  deux  des  talents  et  des  connaissances ; 
mais  je  crois  qu'ils  n'entendent  rien  au  commerce  et  a  la 
culture  des  terres  qui  sont  les  moyens  de  fortune  qu'ils  ont 
imagines."  .  .  . 

With  such  introductions  and  such  advantages,  aided  by  the 
little  fortune  which  Gallatin  would  inherit  on  coming  of  age  in 
1786,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  the  path  was  open  to  him.  He 
had  but  to  walk  in  it.  Success,  more  or  less  brilliant,  was  as 
certain  as  anything  in  this  world  can  be. 

He  preferred  a  different  course.  Instead  of  embracing  his 
opportunities,  he  repelled  them.  Like  many  other  brilliant  men, 
he  would  not,  and  never  did,  learn  to  overcome  some  youthful 
prejudices;  he  disliked  great  cities  and  the  strife  of  crowded 
social  life ;  he  never  could  quite  bring  himself  to  believe  in  their 
advantages  and  in  the  necessity  of  modern  society  to  agglomerate 
in  masses  and  either  to  solve  the  difficulties  inherent  in  close 
organization  or  to  perish  under  them.  He  preferred  a  wilderness 
in  his  youth,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  continued  in  theory  to  prefer 
it  in  his  age.  It  was  the  instinct  of  his  time  and  his  associa- 
tions ;  the  atmosphere  of  Rousseau  and  Jefferson ;  pure  theory, 
combined  with  shy  pride.  He  seems  never  to  have  made  use 
of  his  introductions  unless  when  compelled  by  necessity,  and 
refused  to  owe  anything  to  his  family.  Not  that  even  in  this 
early  stage  of  his  career  he  ever  assumed  an  exterior  that  was 
harsh  or  extravagant,  or  manners  that  were  repulsive;  but 


26  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1780. 

he  chose  to  take  the  world  from  the  side  that  least  touched  his 
pride,  and,  after  cutting  loose  so  roughly  from  the  ties  of  home 
and  family,  he  could  not  with  self-respect  return  to  follow  their 
paths.  His  friends  could  do  no  more.  He  disappeared  from 
their  sight,  and  poor  Mile.  Pictet  could  only  fold  her  hands  and 
wait.  Adoring  her  with  a  warmth  of  regard  which  he  never 
failed  to  express  at  every  mention  of  her  name,  he  almost  broke 
her  heart  by  the  manner  of  his  desertion,  and,  largely  from 
unwillingness  to  tell  his  troubles,  largely  too,  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, from  mere  indolence,  he  left  her  sometimes  for 
years  without  a  letter  or  a  sign  of  life.  Like  many  another 
woman,  she  suffered  acutely ;  and  her  letters  are  beyond  words 
pathetic  in  their  effort  to  conceal  her  suffering.  Mr.  Gallatin 
always  bitterly  regretted  his  fault :  it  was  the  only  one  in  his 
domestic  life. 

His  story  must  be  told  as  far  as  possible  in  his  own  words ; 
but  there  remain  only  his  letters  to  Badollet  to  throw  light  on 
his  manner  of  thinking  and  his  motives  of  action  at  this  time. 
In  these  there  are  serious  gaps.  He  evidently  did  not  care  to 
tell  all  he  had  to  endure ;  but  with  what  shall  be  given  it  will 
be  easy  for  the  reader  to  divine  the  rest. 

The  two  young  men  landed  on  Cape  Ann  on  the  14th  July, 
1780.  The  war  was  still  raging,  and  the  result  still  uncertain. 
General  Gates  was  beaten  at  Camden  on  the  16th  August,  and 
all  the  country  south  of  Virginia  lost.  More  than  a  year  passed 
before  the  decisive  success  at  Yorktown  opened  a  prospect  of 
peace.  The  travellers  had  no  plans,  and,  if  one  may  judge 
from  their  tone  and  behavior,  were  as  helpless  as  two  boys  of 
nineteen  would  commonly  be  in  a  strange  country,  talking  a 
language  of  which  they  could  only  stammer  a  few  words,  and 
trying  to  carry  on  mercantile  operations  without  a  market  and 
with  a  currency  at  its  last  gasp.  They  had  brought  tea  from 
Nantes  as  a  speculation,  and  could  only  dispose  of  it  by  taking 
rum  and  miscellaneous  articles  in  exchange.  Their  troubles  were 
many,  and  it  is  clear  that  they  were  soon  extremely  homesick ; 
for,  after  riding  on  horseback  from  Gloucester  to  Boston,  they 
took  refuge  at  a  French  coffee-house  kept  by  a  certain  Tahon, 
and  finding  there  a  Genevan,  whom  chance  threw  in  their  way, 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  27 

they  clung  to  him  with  an  almost  pathetic  persistence.  On 
September  4  they  bought  a  horse  and  yellow  chaise  for  eight 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars.  Perhaps  it 
was  in  this  chaise  that  they  made  an  excursion  to  Wachusett 
Hill,  which  they  climbed.  But  their  own  letters  will  describe 
them  best. 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

No.  2. 

BOSTON,  14  septembre,  1780. 

Mon  cher  ami,  je  t'ai  deja  e"crit  une  lettre  il  y  a  quatre  jours, 
mais  elle  a  bien  des  hazards  a  courir,  ainsi  je  vais  t'en  recrire  une 
seconde  par  une  autre  occasion,  et  je  vais  commencer  par  un  re'sume' 
de  ce  que  je  te  disais  dans  ma  premiere. 

Nous  parttmes  le  27e  mai  de  Lorient,  apr£s  avoir  paye*  60 
louis  pour  notre  voyage,  les  provisions  comprises.  Notre  coquin 
de  capitaine,  aussi  frippon  que  bete  et  superstitieux,  nous  tint  a 
peu  pres  tout  le  terns  a  viande  sale"e  et  a  eau  pourrie.  Le  second 
du  vaisseau,  plus  frippon  et  plus  hypocrite  que  le  premier,  nous 
vola  6  guinees  dans  notre  poche,  plus  la  moitie"  de  notre  linge, 
plus  le  3-J  pour  100  de  fret  de  notre  the.  (II  avait  demande 
5  pr.  cent,  de  fret  pour  du  the  que  nous  embarquions,  et  il  a 
exig6  8|-.)  Au  reste,  point  de  tempete  pour  orner  notre  re"cit, 
peu  malades,  beaucoup  d'ennui,  et  souvent  effraye"s  par  des  cor- 
saires  qui  nous  ont  poursuivis.  Enfin  nous  arrivames  le  14e 
juillet  au  Cap  Anne  a  huit  lieues  de  Boston  ou  nous  nous 
rendimes  le  lendemain  a  cheval. 


Ce  qui  suit  n'e"toit  pas  dans  [ma  premiere  lettre]. 

Boston  est  une  ville  d'environ  18  mille  ames,  batie  sur  une 
presqu'ile  plus  longue  que  large.  Je  la  crois  plus  grande  que 
Geneve,  mais  il  y  a  des  jardins,  des  prairies,  des  vergers  au  milieu 
de  la  ville  et  chaque  famille  a  ordinairement  sa  maison.  Ces 
maisons  ont  rarement  plus  d'un  4tage  ou  deux.  Elles  sont  de 
briques  ou  de  bois,  couvertes  de  planches  et  d'ardoises,  avec 
des  terrasses  sur  les  toits  et  dans  beaucoup  d'endroits  avec  des 
conducteurs  qui  ont  presque  tous  trois  pointes.  Une  ou  deux 


28  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALL  A  TIN.  1780. 

rues  tirees  ail  cordeau,  point  d'edifices  publics  remarquables,  un 
havre  tres-vaste  et  defendu  par  des  lies  qui  ne  laissent  que  deux 
entries  tres-e"troites,  une  situation  qui  rendrait  la  ville  imprenable 
si  elle  e"tait  fortifie"e,  voila  tout  ce  que  j'ai  a  te  dire  de  Boston. 
Les  habitans  n'ont  ni  delicatesse  ni  honneur  ni  instruction,  et  il 
n'y  a  rien  de  trop  a  Pe"gard  de  leur  probite,  non  plus  qu'a  l'e"gard 
de  celles  des  Frai^ais  qui  sont  e*tablis  ici  et  qui  sont  fort  hai's  des 
naturels  du  pays.  On  s'ennuye  fort  a  Boston.  II  n'y  a  aucun 
amusement  public  et  beaucoup  de  superstition,  en  sorte  que  1'on 
ne  peut  pas  le  dimanche  chanter,  jouer  du  violon,  aux  cartes, 
aux  boules,  &c.  Je  t'assure  que  nous  avons  grand  besoin  de  toi 
pour  venir  augmenter  nos  plaisirs.  En  attendant,  donne-nous 
de  tes  nouvelles  et  fais-nous  un  peu  part  de  la  politique  de 
Geneve.  Je  vais  te  payer  en  te  disant  quelque  chose  de  ce 
pays.  .  .  . 

Then  follow  four  close  pages  of  statistical  information  about 
the  thirteen  colonies,  of  the  ordinary  school-book  type,  which 
may  be  omitted  without  injury  to  the  reader ;  at  the  end  of 
which  the  letter  proceeds : 

On  m'a  dit  beaucoup  de  mal  de  tous  les  habitans  de  la 
Nouvelle-Angleterre ;  du  bien  de  ceux  de  la  Pensilvanie,  de 
la  Virginie,  du  Maryland,  et  de  la  Caroline  Septentrionale ;  et 
rien  des  autres. 

J'en  viens  a  FEtat  de  Massachusetts,  que  je  connais  le  mieux 
et  que  j'ai  garde"  pour  le  dernier. 

II  est  divise"  en  huit  comt£s  et  chaque  comte"  en  plusieurs  villes. 
Car  il  n'y  a  point  de  bourgs.  Des  qu'un  certain  nombre  de  fa- 
milies veulent  smaller  e"tablir  dans  un  terrain  en  friche  et  qu'elles 
consentent  a  entretenir  un  ministre  et  deux  maitres  d'ecole,  on 
leur  donne  un  espace  de  deux  lieues  en  quarre"  nomine"  township 
et  l'e"tablissement  obtient  le  nom  de  ville  et  en  a  tous  les  privi- 
le"ges.  Les  habitans  de  toutes  les  villes  au-dessus  de  vingt-et-un 
ans  et  qui  poss£dent  en  Ame"rique  un  bien  exce"dant  trois  livres 
sterling  de  revenu,  s'assemblent  une  fois  Fan  pour  e"lire  un 
gouverneur  et  un  senat  de  la  province,  compose*  de  six  membres, 
dont  on  remplace  deux  membres  par  an.  On  compte  les  suffrages 


1780.  TOUTH.     1761-1790.  29 

dans  chaque  ville  et  ceux  qui  ont  la  plurality  des  villes  sont  elus. 
Car  les  suffrages  de  chaque  ville  sont  egaux.    Boston  n'a  pas  plus 
de  droit  qu'un  village  de  deux  cents  hommes.     Le  se*nat  6lit  un 
conseil  au  gouverneur  et  chaque  ville  envoye  le  nombre  de  deputes 
a  Boston  qu'elle  veut.      Cela  forme  la  chambre  des  repre"sentans 
et  Ton  prend  toujours  les  suffrages  par  ville.    Environ  deux  cents 
villes  envoyent  des  deputes  et  plus  de  cent  ne  sont  pas  assez  riches 
pour  en  entretenir.     II  faut  le  consentement  de  ces  trois  corps 
pour  faire  une  loi,  repartir  les  impots  (car  c'est  le  Congres  Ge"- 
neral  qui  les  fixe  sur  chaque  province,  qui  decide  la  paix  ou  la 
guerre,  &c.),  &c.     Chaque  ville  e*lit  les  magistrats  de  police. 
Tout  homme  croyant  un  Dieu  renmne'rateur  et  une  autre  vie  est 
tolere  chez  lui ;  et  nombre  de  sectes  ont  des  e"glises.     II  y  a  cent 
ans  qu'on  y  persecutait  les  Anglicans.     Tel  est  le  nouveau  plan 
de  gouvernement  qui  a  eu  Papprobation  des  villes  apres  que  deux 
autres  ont  e"te  rejetes  et  qui  sera  en  vigueur  dans  trois  mois.    Cette 
province  est  la  plus  comme^ante  de  toutes  et  une  des  plus  peu- 
ple"es.    Elle  ne  produit  guere  que  du  mai's,  des  patates,  du  poisson, 
du  bois  et  des  bestiaux.     Ce  sont  actuellement  ses  corsaires  qui 
la  soutiennent.     On  fait  ici  d'excellent  voiliers.     Mais  il  n'y  a 
aucune  fabrique  (excepte  des  toiles  grossieres).    II  y  a  un  college 
et  une  academic  et  une  bibliotheque  a  Cambridge,  petite  ville  a 
une  lieue  de  Boston.     Je  n'ai  pas  encore  pu  voir  cela.     II  n'y  a 
aucune  ville  considerable  excepte  Boston  dans  cet  e*tat.    A  l'egard 
du  comte  de  Main,  les  Anglais  y  ont  un  fort  nomine*  Penobscot 
oil  les  Ame'ricains  se  sont  fait  bruler  18  vaisseaux  Tann^e  derniere 
en  voulant  Tattaquer.    II  est  a  peu  pres  au  milieu  du  comte*.    Au 
nord  sont  des  tribus  de  sauvages ;  au  nord-est,  FAcadie  ou  Nou- 
velle-Ecosse ;  et  au  nord-ouest,  le  Canada.  *  Je  te  dirai  plus  de 
choses  de  ce  pays  dans  peu  de  terns,  car  nous  y  allons  faire  un 
petit  voyage  pour  commercer  en  pelleteries.     Nous  allons  a  Ma- 
chias  (on  prononce  Maitchais)  qui  est  la  derniere  place  au  nord. 
Aye  la  bonte"  de  t'informer  de  toutes  les  particularity  que  tu 
pourras  apprendre  sur  les  manufactures  des  environs  de  Bor- 
deaux, sur  la  difficult^  qu'il  y  aurait  a  en  transporter  des  ouvriers 
ici,  de  m^me  que  des  agriculteurs,  sur  le  prix  des  marchandises 
qui  doivent  y  etre  a  bon  compte  tant  parcequ'on  les  y  fabrique 
que  parcequ'elles  y  arrivent  aisement,  sur  ce  que  content  les  pen- 


30  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1780. 

dules  de  bois  en  particulier,  &c.  J'espere  que  nous  te  verrons 
dans  peu  aupr£s  de  nous.  Cela  se  fera  sur  un  vaisseau  que  nous 
pourrons  t'indiquer.  Nous  aurons  fait  march6  avec  le  capitaine 
et  j'esp£re  que  tu  pourras  faire  la  traversed  plus  agr£ablement  et 
Sconomiquement  que  nous.  Adieu,  mon  bon  ami.  Pense  aussi 
souvent  &  nous  que  nous  a  toi  et  ecris-nous  longuement  et  tres- 
souvent,  car  il  y  a  bien  des  vaisseaux  de  pris. 

"A  MONSIEUR  BADOLLET,  Etudiant  en  ThSologie." 

Whoever  gave  the  writer  his  information  in  regard  to  the 
Massachusetts  constitution  was  remarkably  ill  informed.  But 
this  is  a  trifle.  The  next  letter  soon  follows  : 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

No.  3. 

MAOHIAS,  29  8re,  1780. 

Mon  cher  ami,  tu  ne  t'attendais  sans  doute  pas  &  recevoir  des 
lettres  dat£es  d'un  nom  aussi  baroque,  mais  c'est  celui  que  les 
sauvages  y  ont  mis,  et  comme  ils  sont  les  premiers  possesseurs 
du  pays,  il  est  juste  de  Fappeler  comme  eux.  (On  prononce 
Maitchais.)  C'est  ici  que  nous  allons  passer  Thiver.  ISTous 
avons  pre"fe*re"  les  glaces  du  nord  au  climat  tempe"re~  qu'habitent 
les  Quakers,  et  si  nous  t'avions  avec  nous  pour  cele"brer  PEscalade 
et  pour  vivre  avec  nous,  je  t'assure  que  nous  serions  fort  contens 
de  notre  sort  actuel.  Car  jusqu'a  present  notre  saute"  et  nos 
affaires  pScuniaires  vont  fort  bien ;  quand  je  dis  fort  bien,  c'est 
qu'&  l^gard  du  dernier  article  nous  ne  sommes  pas  trop  am- 
bitieux.  Je  vais  te  detail  ler  tout  Pe"tat  de  nos  affaires.  Dans  la 
maison  ou  nous  demeurions  a  Boston  nous  rencontrames  une 
Suissesse  qui  avait  e"pouse  un  Genevois  nomine*  de  Lesdernier  de 
Russin  et  dont  je  crois  t'avoir  dit  deux  mots  dans  une  de  mes 
lettres  prScMentes.  II  y  avait  trente  ans  qu'il  6tait  venu 
s^tablir  dans  la  Nouvelle-Ecosse.  Tu  sais  que  cette  province 
et  le  Canada  sont  les  seules  qui  soient  restte  sous  le  joug 
anglais.  Une  partie  des  habitans  de  la  premiere  essaya  cepen- 
dant  de  se  rSvolter  il  y  a  deux  ou  trois  ans.  Mais  n'ayant  pas 
6t6  soutenus  ils  furent  obliges  de  s'enfuir  dans  la  Nouvelle- 
Angleterre.  Parmi  eux  6tait  un  des  fils  de  de  Lesdernier.  II 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  31 

vint  dans  cette  place  oft  il  fut  fait  lieutenant.  II  fut  ensuite 
fait  prisonnier  et  mene*  a  Halifax  (la  capitale  de  la  Nouvelle- 
Ecosse).  Son  pere  Falla  voir  en  prison  et  la  lui  fit  adoucir 
jusqu'a  ce  qu'il  fut  e"change*.  Mais  il  essuya  beaucoup  de  d6sa- 
gre"mens  de  la  part  de  ses  amis  qui  lui  reprochaient  d'avoir  un 
fils  parmi  les  rebelles.  II  eut  ensuite  une  partie  de  ses  effets 
pris  par  les  Ame'ricains  tandis  qu'il  les  faisait  transporter  sur  mer 
d'une  place  a  une  autre  ou  il  allait  s'etablir.  L?espe"rance  de  les 
recouvrer  s'il  venait  a  Boston  jointe  au  souvenir  de  Faffaire  de 
son  fils  Fengagea  a  quitter  la  Nouvelle-Ecosse  avec  un  autre  de 
ses  fils  (trois  autres  sont  au  service  du  roi  d'Angleterre)  et  sa 
femme.  Quand  nous  vinmes  a  Boston,  n'ayant  rien  pu  re- 
couvrer, il  e"tait  alle"  jusqu'a  Baltimore  dans  le  Maryland  voir 
s'il  ne  trouverait  rien  a  faire ;  et  a  Farrive"e  de  la  flotte  fran9aise 
a  Rhode  Island,  il  y  alia  et  y  prit  un  Capucin  pour  servir  de 
missionnaire  parmi  les  sauvages  dans  cette  place.  Car  ils  sont 
tous  catholiques  et  du  parti  des  Fran9ais.  Dans  ce  m6me  temps 
ayant  de  la  peine  ii  vendre  notre  the"  et  voyant  beaucoup  de 
difficulte*s  pour  le  commerce  du  c6te"  de  la  Pensilvanie,  nous 
e'changeames  notre  the"  contre  des  marchandises  des  lies,  et  nous 
re"solumes  de  venir  ici  acheter  du  poisson  et  faire  la  traite  de  la 
pelleterie  avec  les  sauvages.  Machias  est  la  derni£re  place  au 
nord-est  de  la  Nouvelle-Angleterre,  a  environ  cent  lieues  de 
Boston,  dans  le  comte  de  Main  qui  est  annexe*  a  Fe"tat  de  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay.  II  n'y  a  que  quinze  ans  qu'on  y  a  forme*  un 
e*tablissement  qui  est  fort  pauvre  a  cause  de  la  guerre  et  qui  ne 
consiste  qu'en  150  families  disperses  dans  un  espace  de  3  &  4 
lieues.  Nous  sommes  dans  le  chef-lieu,  ou  est  un  fort,  le  colonel 
Allan  commandant  de  la  place  et  surintendant  de  tous  les 
sauvages  qui  sont  entre  le  Canada,  la  Nouvelle-Ecosse  et  la 
Nouvelle-Angleterre,  et  tous  les  officiers.  Lesdernier  le  fils, 
chez  qui  nous  logeons,  est  un  tres-joli  gar9on.  Nous  y  passerons 
Fhiver  et  probablement  nous  prendrons  des  terres  le  printems 
prochain,  non  pas  ici  mais  un  peu  plus  au  nord  ou  au  sud  ou 
elles  sont  meilleures.  On  les  a  pour  rien,  mais  elles  sont  en 
friche  et  assez  difficiles  &  travailler.  Ajoute  a  cela  le  manque 
d'hommes.  C'est  pourquoi  je  te  le  repete,  informe-toi  des  con- 
ditions auxquelles  des  paysans  voudraient  venir  ici.  Celles  que 


32  LIFE    OP    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1780. 

nous  pourrions  accorder  &  peu  pres  seraient  de  les  faire  trans- 
porter gratis,  de  les  entretenir  la  premiere  annee,  apres  quoi  la 
moitie1  du  revenu  des  terres  qu'ils  defricheraient  en  cas  que  ce 
fussent  des  bleds,  ou  le  quart  si  c'etaient  des  paturages,  leur 
resteraient  pendant  dix,  quinze  ou  vingt  ans  suivant  les  arrange- 
mens  (le  plus  longtems  serait  le  mieux),  et  au  bout  de  ce  terns  la 
moide"  ou  le  quart  des  terres  leur  appartiendrait  a  perpetuite"  sans 
qu'ils  fussent  obliges  de  cultiver  davantage  Fautre  moitie  ou  les 
autres  trois  quarts.  En  cas  que  tu  en  trouvasses,  e"cris-nous  le 
avec  les  conditions,  le  nombre,  &c. 

Nous  avons  deja  vu  plusieurs  sauvages,  tous  presqu'aussi  noirs 
que  des  negres,  habille's  presqu'a  FEurop6enne  excepte  les  femmes 

qui Mais  je  veux  te  laisser  un  peu  de  curiosite  sans  la  satis- 

faire,  afin  que  tu  ayes  autant  de  motifs  que  possible  pour  venir 
nous  joindre  au  plus  tot.  Mais  ne  pars  que  quand  nous  te  le 
dirons,  parcequ'en  cas  que  tu  ayes  de  Fargent,  nous  t'indiquerons 
quelles  marchandises  tu  dois  acheter,  et  parceque  nous  tacherons 
de  te  procurer  un  embarquement  agrSable.  Dans  notre  passage 
de  Boston  ici  nous  avons  couru  plus  de  risque  qu'en  venant 
d'Europe.  Le  second  jour  de  notre  voyage  nous  relachames  a 
Newbury,  jolie  ville  &  dix  lieues  de  Boston  et  nous  y  fume? 
retenus  5  &  6  jours  par  les  vents  contraires.  L'entree  du  havre. 
est  tr£s-e*troite  et  il  y  a  un  grand  nombre  de  brisans,  de  maniero 
que  quand  les  vents  ont  souffle"  depuis  le  dehors  pendant  quelque 
terns  il  y  a  des  vagues  prodigieuses  qui  pouvaient  briser  ou  renver- 
ser  le  vaisseau  quand  nous  voulumes  sortir.  Nous  fumes  done 
obliges  de  rester  encore  quelques  jours  jusqu'^,  ce  que  la  mer  ful 
calm^e.  Enfin  nous  partimes  apres  nous  ^tre  e"choue  2  fois  dan? 
le  havre.  Apr£s  deux  jours  de  navigation  les  vents  contraires  ei 
tres-forts  nous  obligerent  d'entrer  &  Casco  Bay,  oil  est  la  ville 
de  Falmouth,  une  des  premieres  victimes  de  cette  guerre,  car 
elle  a  6te"  presqu'entierement  bruise  par  les  Anglais  en  ?79.  Le 
lendemain  nous  en  partimes.  Bon  vent  tout  le  jour,  la  nuit  et 
le  lendemain,  mais  un  brouillard  e"pais.  Le  lendemain  un  coup 
de  vent  dechira  notre  grande  voile.  On  la  raccommoda  tant 
bien  que  mal,  et  &  peine  etait-elle  replaced  que  le  vent  augmenta 
et  un  quart  d'heure  apres  on  decouvrit  tout  ^  coup  la  terre  ^ 
une  port6e-de-fusil  &  gauche.  Nous  allions  nord-est  et  le  vent 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  33 

6tait  ouest,  c'est  a  dire  qu'il  portait  droit  centre  terre,  et  la 
maree  montait.  L'on  ne  pouvait  plus  virer  de  bord  et  Ton  flit 
obligS  dialler  autant  centre  le  vent  qu'on  le  pouvait  (par  un 
angle  de  80  degres) ;  malgr6  cela  on  approchait  toujours  de 
terre,  mais  on  en  voyait  le  bout  et  heureusement  elle  tournait 
moyennant  quoi  nous  e"chappames,  mais  nous  nations  pas  a  deux 
toises  d'un  roc  qui  6tait  a  Pavant  de  la  terre  quand  nous  la  d6- 
passames.  Nous  gagnames  le  large  au  plus  vite,  et  aprSs  avoir 
6t6  battus  par  la  tempete  toute  la  nuit,  nous  arrivames  le  lende- 
main  ici. 

Je  n'ai  pas  besoin  de  te  dire  que  ceci  est  e"crit  au  nom  de  tous 
les  deux,  et  comme  tu  le  vois  le  papier  ne  me  permet  pas  de 
causer  plus  longtems  avec  toi.  Adieu,  mon  bon  ami.  Cette 
lettre  est  achevee  le  7e  novembre.  Je  numSrote  mes  lettres. 
Fais-en  autant  et  dis-moi  quels  numeros  tu  as  re9us. 

Tu  ne  recevras  point  de  lettres  de  nous  d'ici  au  printems,  la 
communication  6tant  ferm6e. 

En  relisant  ma  lettre  je  vois  que  je  ne  t'ai  rien  dit  de  la 
maniere  de  vivre  de  ce  pays.  Le  commerce  consiste  en  poisson, 
planches,  matures,  pelleteries,  et  il  est  fort  avantageux.  Avant  la 
guerre  on  ne  faisait  que  couper  des  planches,  depuis  on  a  d6frich6 
les  terres ;  il  n'y  a  encore  que  fort  peu  de  bleds,  mais  des  patates 
efc  des  racines  de  toute  espece  en  abondance,  point  de  fruits,  et  du 
betail  mais  peu.  Nous  avons  deja  une  vache.  C'est  un  com- 
mencement de  me"tairie,  comme  tu  vois.  Trois  rivieres  se  jettent 
dans  le  havre  et  c'est  a  deux  lieues  au-dessus  de  leur  embouchure 
que  nous  sommes  a  la  jonction  de  deux  d'entr'elles.  Nous  aliens 
en  bateaux  de  toute  espece  et  entr'autres  sur  des  canots  d'ecorce, 
dont  tu  seras  enchante",  quelques  fragiles  qu'ils  soient.  Tout  cela 
gele  tout  1'hyver  et  on  peut  faire  dix  lieues  en  patins.  On  va 
sur  la  neige  avec  une  sorte  de  machine  qui  s'attache  aux  pieds, 
nominee  raquettes,  et  avec  laquelle  on  n'enfonce  point,  quelque 
tendre  qu'elle  soit.  On  fait  trente,  quarante  lieues  a  travers 
les  bois,  les  lacs,  les  rivieres,  en  raquettes,  en  patins,  en  canots 
d'ecorce.  Car  on  les  porte  sur  son  dos  quand  on  arrive  a  un 
endroit  ou  il  n'y  a  plus  d'eau  jusqu'au  premier  ruisseau,  ou  Ton 
se  rembarque. 

Dis-nous  quelque  chose  de  Geneve ;  des  affaires  politiques,  du 


34  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1780. 

proces  Rilliet,  de  ta  maniere  de  passer  ton  terns  a  present,  &c. 
Adresse-nous  tes  lettres  a  Boston. 
MONSIEUR  JEAN  BADOLLET, 

Chez  Monsieur  le  Chevalier  de  Vivens,  a  Cle"rac. 

A  letter  from  Serre,  which  was  enclosed  with  the  above  long 
despatch  from  Gallatin,  throws  some  light  on  Serre's  imaginative 
and  poetical  character  and  his  probable  influence  on  the  more 
practical  mind  of  his  companion,  although,  to  say  the  truth,  his 
idea  of  life  and  its  responsibilities  was  simply  that  of  the  run- 
away school-boy. 

SERRE   TO   BADOLLET. 

Mon  cher  ami  Badollet,  nous  sommes  ici  dans  un  pays  ou  je 
crois  que  tu  te  plairais  bien ;  nous  demeurons  au  milieu  d'une 
for£t  sur  le  bord  d'une  riviere ;  nous  pouvons  chasser,  pecher, 
nous  baigner,  aller  en  patins  quand  bon  nous  semble.  A  pre"- 
sent  nous  nous  chauffons  gaillardement  devant  un  bon  feu,  et  ce 
qu'il  y  a  de  mieux  c'est  que  c'est  nous-me'mes  qui  allons  couper 
le  bois  dans  la  for£t.  Tu  sais  comme  nous  nous  amusions  a 
Geneve  a  nous  promener  en  bateau.  Eh  bien !  je  m'amuse  encore 
mieux  ici  a  naviguer  dans  des  canots  de  sauvagas.  Us  sont  cons- 
truits  avec  de  l^corce  de  bouleau  et  sont  charmants  pour  aller 
un  ou  deux  dedans ;  on  peut  s'y  coucher  comme  dans  un  lit,  et 
ramer  tout  a  son  aise ;  il  n'y  a  pas  de  petit  ruisseau  qui  n'ait  assez 
d'eau  pour  ces  jolies  voitures.  II  y  a  quelque  terns  que  je  des- 
cendis  une  petite  riviere  fort  e"troite;  le  terns  6tait  superbe;  je 
voyais  des  prairies  a  deux  pas  de  moi ;  j'6tais  couch6  tout  le  long 
du  canot  sur  une  couverture,  et  il  y  avait  si  peu  d'eau  qu'il  me 
semblait  glisser  sur  les  pres  et  les  gazons.  Je  tourne,  je  char- 
pente,  je  dessine,  je  joue  du  violon ;  il  n'y  a  pas  diablerie  que  je 
ne  fasse  pour  m'amuser.  Note  avec  cela  que  nous  sommes  ici  en 
compagnie  de  cinq  bourgeois  et  bourgeoises  de  Geneve.  II  est 
bien  vrai  qu'il  y  en  a  trois  de  n6s  en  Ame'rique,  mais  ils  n'en  ont 
pas  moins  conserve"  le  sang  rSpublicain  de  leurs  ancetres,  et  M. 
Lesdernier  le  fils,  n6  dans  ce  continent  d'un  pere  genevois,  est 
celui  de  tous  les  Am^ricains  que  j'ai  vu  encore  le  plus  z6l6  et  le 
plus  plein  d'enthousiasme  pour  la  Iibert6  de  son  pays. 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  35 

Adieu,  mon  cher  ami.  J'espere  que  F6t£  prochain  tu  viendras 
m'aider  a  pagaUler  (signifie  ramer)  dans  un  canot  de  sauvage, 
Xous  irons  remonter  la  riviere  St.  Jean  ou  le  fleuve  St.  Laurent 
visiter  le  Canada.  Si  tu  pouvais  trouver  moyen  de  m'envoyer  une 
demi-douzaine  de  bouts  de  tubes  capillaires  pour  thermometre, 
tu  obligerais  beaucoup  ton  affection^  ami. 

P.S. — Xous  allons  bientot  faire  un  petit  voyage  pour  voir  une 
habitation  de  sauvages. 

A  little  more  information  is  given  by  the  fragment  of  another 
letter,  written  nearly  two  years  afterwards,  but  covering  the  same 
ground. 

GALLATIN    TO   BADOLLET. 

CAMBRIDGE,  15  septeinbre,  1782. 

Mon  bon  ami,  je  t'eeris  sans  savoir  ou  tu  es,  et  sans  savoir  si 
mes  lettres  te  parviendront,  ou  si  meme  tu  te  soucies  d'en  rece- 
voir ;  car  si  je  ne  oomptais  pas  autant  sur  ton  amitiS  que  je  le 
fais,  je  serais  presqtie  porte"  a  croire  que  tu  n'as  rSpondu  a  aucune 
des  lettres  que  nous  t'avons  ecrites,  Serre  et  moi,  depuis  plus  de 
deux  ans.  C^pendant  te  jugeant  par  moi-m^me  et  surtout  te 
connaissant  conime  je  fais,  j'aime  mieux  penser  que  toutes  nos 
lettres  ont  £t£  perdues,  ou  que  toutes  les  tiennes  ont  subi  ce  sort. 
Ainsi  commencant  par  la  deuxieme  supposition,  je  vais  te  faire 
un  court  narr6  de  nos  aventures. 

Xotre  voyage  jusqu'en  Ame"rique  ne  fut  marque"  par  aucun 
eYenernent  remarquable  except^  le  vol  que  le  second  du  vaisseau 
nous  fit  de  la  moitiS  de  notre  linge  et  de  quelqu^argent.  Xous 
arrivames  a  Boston  le  15  juillet,  1780,  et  nous  y  restames  deux 
mois  avant  de  pouvoir  nous  d£faire  de  quelques  caisses  de  th£ 
que  nous  avions  achetees  avant  de  nous  embarquer.  La  difficulte" 
ue  se  transporter  a  Philadelphie  et  le  desir  d'augmenter  un  peu 
nos  fonds  avant  dy  aller,  nous  d^termina  a  passer  dans  le  nord 
de  cet  6tat  dans  le  dernier  e'tablissement  qu'aient  les  Am^ricains 
sur  les  frontieres  de  k  Xouvelle-Ecosse.  Cette  place  se  nomme 
Machias  et  est  un  port  de  mer  situ^  sur  la  baye  Funday,  ou 
Francaise,  ^  cent  lieues  X.-E.  de  Boston.  Un  Gsnevois  nomm4 


36  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1780. 

Lesdernier,  un  bon  paysan  de  Russin,  qui  apres  avoir  fait  de  fort 
bons  Stablissements  en  Nouvelle-Ecosse,  les  avait  perdus  en  partie 
par  sa  faute,  en  partie  par  son  attachement  pour  la  cause  des 
Am6ricains,  et  qui  allait  avec  un  capucin  (destinS  a  pr£cher  des 
sauvages)  joindre  son  fils  qui  est  lieutenant  au  service  americain 
a  Machias, — ce  Genevois,  dis-je,  fut  un  des  motifs  qui  nous  en- 
traina  dans  le  nord,  ou  notre  curiosit6  ne  demandait  pas  mieux 
que  de  nous  conduire.  Nous  partimes  de  Boston  le  ler  octobre, 
1780,  et  apres  avoir  relach6  a  Newbury  et  a  Casco  Bay  (deux 
ports  de  la  Nouvelle-Angleterre,  situes  le  premier  a  quinze  lieues 
et  le  second  &  quarante-cinq  nord-est  de  Boston),  et  avoir  pens6 
nous  perdre  dans  un  brouillard  contre  un  rocher,  en  grande  partie 
par  Fignorance  de  nos  matelots,  nous  arrivames  le  15e  octobre 
dans  la  riviere  de  Machias.  Te  donner  une  idee  de  ce  pays  n'est 
pas  bien  difficile ;  quatre  ou  cinq  maisons  ou  plutot  cahutes  de 
bois  eparses  dans  1'espace  de  deux  lieues  de  cote  que  Pon  de- 
co-uvre  a  la  fois,  deux  ou  trois  arpens  de  terre  defriches  autour 
de  chaque  cahute,  et  quand  je  dis  defriches  j'entends  seulement 
qu'on  a  conp£  les  arbres  des  alentours  et  que  Pan.  a  plante 
quelques  patates  entre  les  souches,  et  au  dela,  de  quel  cot6  que 
Pon  se  tourne,  rien  que  des  bois  immenses  qui  bornent  la  vue  de 
tous  cot£s,  voil&  ce  que  le  premier  coup-d'oeil  pr^sente.  II  ne 
laisse  cependant  pas  que  d'y  avoir  quelques  vari6tes  dans  cette 
vue,  quelqu'uniforme  qu'elle  soit  naturellement.  Le  port  que  la 
riviere  forme  &  son  embouchure,,  port  qui  pour  le  dire  en  passant 
est  assez  beau  et  tres-sur,  est  parsem6  de  quelques  petites  iles. 
Les  diiferentes  rMexions  du  soleil  sur  les  arbres  de  diiferentes 
couleurs  dont  elles  sont  couvertes,  sur  les  rocs  escarpes  qui  en  bor- 
dent  quelques-unes  et  sur  les  vagues  qui  se  brisent  a  leur  pied, 
forment  des  contrastes  assez  agreables.  Ajoute  a  cela  quelques 
bateaux  a  voiles  ou  a  rames  et  quelques  petits  canots,  les  uns  de 
bois,  les  autres  cPecorce  d^arbre  et  faits  par  les  sauvages,  qui  sont 
menes  par  un  ou  deux  homines,  souvent  par  quelques  jolies  jeuncs 
filles  v^tues  tres-simplement  mais  proprement,  arme"s  chacun 
d?une  pagaye  avec  laquelle  ils  font  voler  leur  fragile  navire,  et 
til  auras  une  idee  de  la  vue  de  toutes  les  c6tes  et  bayes  du  nord  de 
la  Nouvelle-Angleterre.  Cinq  milles  au-dessus  de  Pembouchure 
de  la  riviere  est  le  principal  etablissement,  car  il  y  a  une  vingt- 


1780.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  37 

aine  de  maisons  et  un  fort  de  terre  et  de  bois  dSfendu  par  sept 
pieces  de  canon,  et  par  une  garnison  de  15  a  20  hommes.  C'est 
an  colonel  nomme  Allan  qui  est  le  commandeur  de  cette  re- 
doutable  place,  mais  il  a  un  emploi  un  pen  plus  important,  celui 
de  surintendant  de  tous  les  sauvages  de  cette  partie.  Je  t'ai  dit 
qu'un  de  nos  motifs  pour  aller  a  Machias  6tait  d'augmenter  un 
peu  nos  fonds;  pour  cela  nous  avions  employ^  les  deux  mille 
livres  argent  de  France  qui  formait  notre  capital,  a  acheter  du 
rhum,  du  sucre  et  du  tabac,  que  nous  comptions  vendre  aux 
sauvages  ou  aux  habitans;  mais  ces  derniers  n'ayant  point 
d'argent,  la  saison  du  poisson  sale  qu'ils  pechent  en  assez  grande 
quantity  .  .  . 

The  remainder  of  this  letter  is  lost,  and  the  loss  is  the  more 
unfortunate  because  the  next  movements  of  the  two  travellers 
are  somewhat  obscure.  They  appear  to  have  wasted  a  year  at 
Machias  quite  aimlessly,  with  possibly  some  advantage  to  their 
facility  of  talking,  but  at  a  serious  cost  to  their  slender  resources. 
In  the  war,  though  they  were  on  the  frontier,  and  no  doubt 
quite  in  the  humor  for  excitement  of  the  kind,  they  had  little 
opportunity  to  take  part.  "  I  went  twice  as  a  volunteer,"  says 
Mr.  Gallatin,  in  a  letter  written  in  1846,1  "to  Passamaquoddy 
Bay,  the  first  time  in  November,  1780,  under  Colonel  Allen,  who 
commanded  at  Machias  and  was  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs 
in  that  quarter.  It  was  then  and  at  Passamaquoddy  that  I  was 
for  a  few  days  left  accidentally  in  command  of  some  militia, 
volunteers,  and  Indians,  and  of  a  small  temporary  work  de- 
fended by  one  cannon  and  soon  after  abandoned.  As  I  never 
met  the  enemy,  I  have  not  the  slightest  claim  to  military  ser- 
vices." But  what  was  of  much  more  consequence,  he  advanced 
four  hundred  dollars  in  supplies  to  the  garrison  at  Machias,  for 
which  he  was  ultimately  paid  by  a  Treasury  warrant,  which, 
as  the  Treasury  was  penniless,  he  was  obliged  to  sell  for  what 
it  would  bring,  namely,  one  hundred  dollars.  Nevertheless  he 
found  Machias  and  the  Lesderniers  so  amusing,  or  perhaps  he 
felt  so  little  desire  to  throw  himself  again  upon  the  world,  that 

1  Letter  to  John  Connor,  9th  January,  1846.     Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  621. 


38  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1781. 

he  remained  all  the  following  summer  buried  in  this  remote 
wilderness,  cultivating  that  rude,  free  life  which  seems  to  have 
been  Serre's  ideal  even  more  than  his  own.  They  came  at 
length  so  near  the  end  of  their  resources  that  they  were  forced 
to  seek  some  new  means  of  support.  In  October,  1781,  there- 
fore, they  quitted  Machias  and  returned  to  Boston,  where  Gallatin 
set  himself  to  the  task  of  obtaining  pupils  in  French.  None  of 
his  letters  during  this  period  have  been  preserved  except  the 
fragment  already  given,  and  the  only  light  that  can  now  be 
thrown  on  his  situation  at  Boston  is  found  in  occasional  refer- 
ences to  his  letters  by  his  correspondents  at  home  in  their  replies. 

MLLE.   PICTET   TO   GALLATIN. 

No.  5. 

GENEVE,  5  fevrier,  1782. 

J'ai  reyu,  mon  cher  ami,  ta  lettre  de  Boston  du  18e  de"cembre, 
1781,  qui  m'a  fait  grand  plaisir.  Je  suis  bien  aise  que  vous  ne 
soyez  plus  dans  Fesp£ce  de  desert  ou  vous  avez  passe"  Phiver 
pre"ce"dent  et  ou  je  ne  voyais  rien  a  gagner  pour  vous  mais  beau- 
coup  a  perdre  par  la  mauvaise  compagnie  a  laquelle  vous  6tiez 
r6duit.  Je  suis  content  aussi  de  Faveu  naif  que  tu  fais  de  ton 
ennui ;  .  .  .  vous  n^tes  peut-etre  pas  beaucoup  mieux  &  Boston, 
n'y  6tant  connu  de  personne;  mais  il  n'est  pas  impossible  de 
faire  quelques  bonnes  connaissances  si  vous  y  passez  quelque 
terns.  Je  t'y  adressai  line  lettre  le  6e  Janvier,  1782,  No.  4,  sous 
le  convert  de  M.  le  Docteur  Samuel  Cooper,  a  laquelle  je  joignis 
un  me'moire  pour  lui  demander  a  s'informer  de  vous  a  Machias, 
ou  je  vous  croyais  encore,  de  vouloir  bien  vous  proteger  soit  a 
Machias  soit  &  Boston.  Je  lui  contais  votre  histoire  .  .  .  et  lui 
disais  que  M.  Franklin,  son  ami,  devait  le  charger  de  te  remettre 
mille  livres,  .  .  .  qu'on  remettrait  ici  &  M.  Marignac,  chez  lequel 
M.  Johannot  son  petit-fils  est  en  pension.  C'est  ce  jeune  homme, 
que  nous  voyons  souvent,  qui  voulut  bien  envoyer  le  tout  dans 
une  lettre  de  recommandation  pour  vous  &  son  grand-peire.  .  .  . 
La  lettre  par  laquelle  M.  Johannot  te  recommande  a  son  ami  et 
le  charge  cle  te  payer  mille  livres  .  .  .'  n'arrivera  vraisembla- 
blement  qu'en  m6me  terns  que  celle-ci,  ce  dont  je  suis  tres-fachee, 
ne  doutant  pas  que  tu  n'aies  grand  besoin  d'argent.  J'ai  peine 


1782.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  39 

a  croire  que  les  lepons  de  Fran£ais  que  vous  donnez  suffisent  & 
vos  besoins.  ...  Si  ton  oncle  le  cadet  consent,  je  t'enverrai  a 
Philadelphie  les  800  livres,  .  .  .  puisque  tu  dis  que  tu  veux  7 
aller  au  printems. 

MLLE.  PICTET  TO  GALLATIN. 

No.  8. 

14  novembre,  1782. 

.  .  .  Enfin  le  jeune  Johannot  vient  de  recevoir  une  lettre  de 
M.  son  grand-pere  qui  lui  parle  de  toi ;  il  t'a  fait  obtenir  une 
place  de  Professeur  en  langue  franyaise  dans  Facad6mie  de 
Boston.  .  .  . 

MLLE.  PICTET   TO   GALLATIN. 

No.  9. 

30  novembre,  1782. 

Je  reyois,  mon  cher  ami,  ta  lettre  du  5e  septembre,  1782, 
No.  3.  ...  Elle  m'a  fait  d'autant  plus  de  plaisir  que  je  Fai 
trouve"e  mieux  que  les  pr£cedentes ;  elle  est  sensed  et  de"pouill£e 
d'enthousiasme ;  il  me  semble  que  tu  commences  a  voir  les  choses 
sous  leur  vrai  point  de  vue.  .  .  .  Je  vois  avec  grand  plaisir  que 
tu  ne  penses  plus  au  commerce.  .  .  .  Je  ne  puis  m'empe'cher  de 
te  re"peter  que  tu  dois  te  defier  de  Fimagination  et  de  la  t£te  de 
Serre ;  il  Fa  le"gere ;  Fimagination  a  plus  de  part  a  ses  projets 
que  le  raisonnement.  .  .  . 

MLLE.  PICTET   TO   GALLATIN. 

No.  10. 

26  decembre,  1782. 

.  .  .  Tu  me  dis  que  ta  saute"  est  bonne ;  je  trouve  que  tu  la 
mets  a  de  terribles  Spreuves,  et  quoique  ta  vie  soit  moins  penible 
que  quand  tu  e*tais  coupeur  de  bois  a  Machias,  la  quantite"  de 
Ie9ons  que  tu  es  oblige"  de  donner  me  parait  une  chose  bien 
fatigante  et  bien  ennuyeuse.  J^espere  que  tu  seras  devenu  un 
peu  moins  difficile  et  moins  sujet  a  Fennui.  .  .  . 

SERRE   TO   BADOLLET. 

CAMBRIDGE,  13  decembre,  1782. 

Mon  cher  ami,  ma  foi !  je  perds  patience  et  je  n'ai  pas  tout  & 
fait  tort.  Tu  conviendras  avec  nous  qu'apres  t'avoir  e"crit  une 
douzaine  de  lettres  sans  recevoir  aucune  re"ponse,  il  nous  est  bien 


40  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1782. 

permis  d'etre  un  peu  en  col£re.  Au  nom  de  Dieu,  dis-noiis  ou 
es-tu,  que  fais-tu,  es-tu  mort  ou  en  vie?  Comment  serait-il 
possible  que  tu  n'eusses  169  a  aucune  de  nos  lettres,  ou  qu'en 
ayant  reyu,  tu  te  fusses  si  peu  embarrasse  de  nous ;  toi  sur  qui 
nous  comptions  si  fort!  Non;  j'aime  mieux  croire  que  tu  te 
souviens  encore  de  nous,  et  attribuer  ta  negligence  apparente  au 
mauvais  sort  de  tes  lettres. 

Je  ne  vais  point  te  faire  ici  le  detail  de  toutes  nos  aventures 
dans  ce  pays,  qui  sont  assez  curieuses  et  inte'ressantes.  Nous 
avons  visite"  toute  la  cote  septentrionale  des  ]5tats-Unis  depuis 
Boston  jusqu'a  Pasmacadie,  quelquefois  separes  Tun  de  Pautre, 
mais  le  plus  souvent  ensemble;  nous  avons  habite"  parmi  les 
sauvages,  voyage  avec  eux,  par  terns  dans  leurs  canots  d^corce, 
couche  dans  leurs  cabanes  et  assiste  a  un  de  leurs  festins ;  nous 
nous  sommes  trouves  rassembles  cinq  Genevois  a  Machias  pen- 
dant un  hiver,  au  milieu  des  bois  et  des  Indiens.  Combien  de 
fois  nous  avons  pens6  a  toi  alors ;  combien  de  fois  nous  t'avons 
desire  pour  venir  avec  nous  couper  du  bois  le  matin  et  le  trans- 
porter dans  notre  chaumiere  pour  nous  en  chauffer.  Mr.  Les- 
dernier  avec  qui  nous  demeurions  a  ete  fermier  a  Russin,  et 
quoique  depuis  trente  ans  dans  ce  pays  il  a  conserve  en  entier 
cette  humeur  joviale  et  franche  et  cet  esprit  libre  qui  caracterisent 
nos  habitans  de  la  campagne.  La  premiere  fois  que  je  le  vis  je 
me  sentis  emu  de  joie,  j'aurais  voulu  lui  sauter  au  cou  et  Tem- 
brasser ;  je  me  crus  &  Geneve  parmi  nos  bons  bourgeois  de  la 
campagne  et  il  me  semblait  voir  en  lui  un  ancien  ami. 

Partout  oft  nous  avons  ete  nous  t'avons  toujours  regrette*.  De 
tous  les  jeunes  gens  de  notre  connoissance  a  qui  nous  avons 
pense",  tu  es  le  seul  que  nous  ayons  toujours  desire"  pour  com- 
pagnon  de  fortune  et  dont  le  caractere  se  plairoit  le  plus  &  notre 
genre  de  vie.  Si  tu  pouvais  t'imaginer  la  liberte*  dont  nous 
jouissons  et  tous  les  avantages  qui  Taccompagnent,  tu  n'h6siterais 
pas  un  instant  a  venir  la  partager  avec  nous.  Nous  ne  courons 
point  apres  la  Fortune.  Inexperience  nous  a  appris  qu'elle  court 
souvent  apres  Fhomme  a  qui  elle  crie:  Arrete;  mais  son  ardente 
ambition  le  rend  sourd  et  la  lui  repr£sente  toujours  comme 
fuyant  devant  lui.  Alors  croyant  Fatteindre  &  force  de  courses 
et  de  fatigues,  le  malheureux  s'en  eloigne  et  lui  4chappe.  De 


1782.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  41 

quels  regrets  ne  doit-il  pas  etre  consume"  si  apres  tant  de  peines 
et  de  travaux  il  vient  a  connaitre  son  erreur,  miserable  par  sa 
faute  et  trop  faible  pour  retourner  sur  ses  pas.  Je  ne  m'e'ton- 
nerais  point  que  le  desespoir  de  s'dtre  si  cruellement  trompe",  le 
portat  a  se  delivrer  d'un  reste  d'existence  que  le  souvenir  de  sa 
faute  et  la  pense"e  rongeante  de  son  ambition  de^ue  lui  rendrait 
insupportable.  Ignorant  done  si  la  fortune  nous  suit  ou  si  elle 
nous  precede,  nous  ne  risquerons  point  notre  bonheur  pour  la 
joindre,  et  nous  aimons  mieux  un  e"tat  qui  procure  une  jouissance 
modere'e  mais  pre*sente  et  continue,  que  celui  qui  demande  des 
souffrances  preliminaires  et  n'offre  en  retour  qu'un  avenir  plus 
se"duisant,  il  est  vrai,  mais  eloigne*  et  incertain.  Et  mSme  en  le 
supposant  certain,  le  grand  avantage  pour  un  homme  qui  a 
employ  6  toute  sa  jeunesse  (c'est  a  dire  toute  la  par  tie  de  sa  vie 
susceptible  de  jouissance)  en  veilles  et  en  fatigues,  de  possMer 
dans  un  age  avance  des  richesses  qui  lui  sont  alors  inutiles  et 
superflues !  Ce  n'est  pas  lorsqu'il  est  devenu  incapable  de  sentir, 
qu'il  a  perdu  presque  toute  la  vivacite"  de  ses  sens  et  de  ses 
passions,  qu'il  a  besoin  de  Finstrument  pour  les  satisfaire;  le 
plaisir  le  plus  vif  que  ressent  un  vieillard  est  le  ressouvenir  de 
ceux  de  la  jeunesse,  mais  celui-ci  n'aura  que  celui  de  ses  peines 
passe"es  et  cette  reflexion  le  rendra  triste  et  melancolique. 

Notre  but  done,  mon  cher  ami,  est  le  plus  tot  que  nous  pourrons 
de  nous  procurer  un  fond  de  terre  et  de  nous  mettre  fermiers ; 
ayant  ainsi  une  ressource  sure  pour  vivre  agr6ablement  et  inde"- 
pendants,  nous  pourrons  lorsque  Fenvie  nous  en  prendra,  aller  de 
terns  en  terns  faire  quelques  excursions  dans  le  dehors  et  courir 
le  pays,  ce  qui  est  un  de  nos  plus  grands  plaisirs ;  or  nous  n'atten- 
drons  que  toi  pour  accomplir  notre  projet;  fais  ton  paquet,  je  t'en 
prie,  et  hormis  que  tu  ne  sois  dans  des  circonstances  bien  avan- 
tageuses,  viens  nous  joindre  tout  de  suite.  Je  ne  saurais  croire 
avec  quel  plaisir  je  m'imagine  quelquefois  nous  voir  tous  les 
trois  dans  notre  maison  de  campagne  occupe*s  des  differents  soins 
de  la  campagne,  puis  de  terns  en  terns  pour  varier,  aller  visiter 
quelque  nouvelle  partie  du  monde ;  si  la  fortune  se  trouve  en 
passant,  nous  mettons  la  main  dessus;  si  au  contraire  quelque 
revers  nous  abat,  nous  nous  en  revenons  vite  dans  notre  ferme, 
ou  nous  en  sommes  quittes  pour  couper  notre  bois  nous-memes  et 


42  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1782. 

labourer  notre  champ ;  voila  notre  pis-aller,  et  quel  pis-aller !  un 
de  nos  plus  grands  amusements ! 

Ah  9&,  nous  t'attendons  pour  le  plus  tard  le  printems  prochain. 
Pourvu  que  tu  aies  de  quoi  payer  ton  passage,  ne  t'inquiete  pas 
du  reste.  Nous  ignorons  ou  nous  serons  positivement  dans  ce 
temps,  mais  des  le  moment  que  tu  seras  arrive,  si  c'est  a  Boston 
va  loger  chez  Tahon  qui  tient  une  auberge  fra^aise  a  Fenseigne 
de  Valliance  dans  la  rue  appele"e  Fore  Street,  prononc6  Faure 
Strite.  Si  tu  n'arrives  pas  a  Boston,  6cris  a  Tahon,  qui  t'indi- 
quera  ou  nous  sommes.  Emporte  avec  toi  tout  ce  que  tu  possedes 
et  tache  de  te  munir  d'un  ou  deux  bons  barometres  et  thermo- 
metres  et  de  tubes  pour  en  faire,  avec  une  longue  vue. 

Adieu,  mon  cher  ami;  je  ne  sais  point  a  qui  adresser  cette 
lettre  pour  qu'elle  te  parvienne,  car  j 'ignore  totalement  ou  est  ta 
residence  actuelle.  Gallatin  t'Scrit  aussi,  ainsi  je  ne  te  dis  rien 
de  lui. 

It  was  the  watchful  care  and  forethought  of  Mile.  Pictet 
that  enabled  Gallatin  to  tide  over  the  difficulties  of  these  two 
years,  by  obtaining  the  countenance  and  aid  of  Dr.  Cooper, 
which  opened  to  him  the  doors  of  Harvard  College.  The  follow- 
ing paper  shows  the  position  he  occupied  at  the  college,  which 
has  been  sometimes  dignified  by  the  name  of  Professorship : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard 
College,  July  2,  1782 :  Vote  5.  That  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  has 
requested  it,  be  permitted  to  instruct  in  the  French  language 
such  of  the  students  as  desire  it  and  who  shall  obtain  permission 
from  their  parents  or  guardians  in  writing,  signified  under  their 
hands  to  the  President ;  which  students  shall  be  assessed  in  their 
quarter-bills  the  sums  agreed  for  with  Mr.  Gallatin  for  their 
instruction ;  and  that  Mr.  Gallatin  be  allowed  the  use  of  the 
library,  a  chamber  in  the  college,  and  commons  at  the  rate  paid 
by  the  tutors,  if  he  desire  it. 

"  Copy.     Attest, 
"  JOSEPH  WILLARD,  President/7 

The  list  of  students  who  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege 


1783.  YOUTH.      1761-1790.  43 

is  still  preserved,  and  contains  a  number  of  names  then  best 
known  in  Boston.  The  terms  offered  were:  "Provided  fifty 
students  engage,  the  sum  will  be  five  dollars  per  quarter  each, 
and  provided  sixty  (not  included  Messrs.  Oatis,  Pyncheon,  and 
Amory)  have  permits  from  their  relations,  the  price  will  be  four 
dollars  each.  They  are  under  no  obligation  to  engage  more  than 
by  the  quarter."  The  "  Mr.  Oatis"  was  apparently  Harrison 
Gray  Otis.  About  seventy  appear  to  have  taken  lessons,  which 
was,  for  that  day,  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  whole  number 
of  students.  Gal  latin's  earnings  amounted  to  something  less 
than  three  hundred  dollars,  and  he  seems  to  have  found  diffi- 
culty in  procuring  payment,  for  he  intimates  on  a  memorandum 
that  this  was  the  sum  paid. 

Of  his  life  while  in  Boston  and  Cambridge  almost  nothing 
can  be  said.  He  was  not  fond  of  society,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  sought  the  society  of  Boston.  The  only 
American  friend  he  made,  of  whose  friendship  any  trace  remains, 
was  "William  Bentley,  afterwards  a  clergyman  long  settled  at 
Salem,  then  a  fellow-tutor  at  Cambridge.  When  Gallatin  left 
Cambridge  after  a  year  of  residence,  President  Willard,  Professor 
Wigglesworth,  and  Dr.  Cooper,  at  his  request,  gave  him  a  cer- 
tificate that  he  had  "  acquitted  himself  in  this  department  with 
great  reputation.  He  appears  to  be  well  acquainted  with  letters, 
and  has  maintained  an  unblemished  character  in  the  University 
and  in  this  part  of  the  country."  And  Mr.  Bentley,  in  whose 
hands  he  left  a  few  small  money  settlements,  wrote  to  him  as 
follows,  enclosing  the  testimonial : 

WILLIAM   BENTLEY   TO   GALLATIN. 

HOLLIS  HALL,  CAMBRIDGE,  August  20,  1783. 
MB.  GALLATIN, — I  profess  myself  happy  in  your  confidence. 
Your  very  reputable  conduct  in  the  University  has  obliged  all 
its  friends  to  afford  you  the  most  full  testimony  of  their  esteem 
and  obligation,  as  the  within  testimonials  witness.  I  should 
have  answered  your  letter  of  July  1 1  sooner  had  not  the  call  of 
a  dissenting  congregation  at  Salem  obliged  my  absence  at  that 
time,  and  the  immediately  ensuing  vacation  prevented  my  atten- 


44  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1783. 

tion  to  your  business.  ...  I  expect  soon  to  leave  Cambridge, 
as  the  day  appointed  for  my  ordination  at  Salem  is  the  24th  of 
September.  In  every  situation  of  life  I  shall  value  your  friend- 
ship and  company,  and  subscribe  myself  your  devoted  and  very 
humble  servant. 

N.B. — The  tutors  all  expressed  a  readiness  to  subscribe  to  any 
recommendation  or  encomium  which  could  serve  Mr.  Gallatin's 
interest  in  America ;  but  our  names  would  appear  oddly  on  the 
list  with  the  president,  professors,  and  Dr.  Cooper. 

If  Gallatin  gained  the  esteem  of  so  excellent  a  man  as  Bentley, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  deserved  it.  In  the  small  colle- 
giate society  of  that  day  there  was  little  opportunity  to  deceive, 
and  Bentley  and  President  Willard  only  repeat  the  same  account 
of  Gallatin's  character  and  abilities  which  comes  from  all  other 
sources.  There  is,  too,  an  irresistible  accent  of  truth  in  the 
quaint  phraseology  of  Bentley's  letter. 

But  he  had  no  intention  to  stop  here.  In  July,  1783,  he  took 
advantage  of  the  summer  vacation  to  travel. 

GALLATIN   TO   SERRE. 

NEW  YORK,  22e  juillet,  1783. 

Mon  bon  ami,  nous  voici  arrives  heureusement  &  New  York 
apr£s  un  passage  plus  long  que  nous  n'avions  compte.  Nous 
laissames  Providence  jeudi  passe",  17e  courant,  et  arrivames  le 
lendemain  a  Newport,  ou  nous  ne  f  imes  que  diner,  et  que  j'ai 
trouve"  mieux  situ£  et  plus  agrSable  quoique  moins  bien  bati  et 
moins  comme^ant  que  Providence.  Apropos  de  cette  derniere 
ville,  j'ai  Ste"  voir  le  college,  oft  il  n'y  a  que  12  Scoliers;  je  ne 
pus  voir  le  president,  mais  le  tutor,  car  il  n'y  en  a  qu'un,  me 
park  de  Poullin;  il  me  dit  qu'ils  seraient  tres-charmes  d'avoir 
un  maitre  francais ;  que  le  college  ni  les  Scoliers  ne  pourraient 
lui  donner  que  peu  de  chose,  mais  qu'il  se  trouverait  dans  la 
ville  un  nombre  assez  considerable  d^coliers  pour  1'occuper 
autant  qu'il  voudrait;  qu'en  cas  qu'il  s'en  pre"sentat  un,  le 
college  le  ferait  afficher  sur  la  gazette  afin  qu'on  ouvrit  pour  lui 


1783.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  45 

une  souscription  dans  la  ville  et  qu'il  sut  sur  quoi  compter. 
Pour  revenir,  nous  laissames  Newport  vendredi  a  2h.  apr£s 
diner,  et  ne  sommes  arrives  ici  que  hier,  lundi,  a  la  nuit.  Nous 
avons  eu  beau  terns  mais  calme.  Les  bords  de  la  Longue-Isle 
pres  de  New- York  sont  passables,  mais  ceux  de  File  meTne  ou 
est  batie  New- York  sont  cou  verts  de  campagnes  char  mantes  au- 
dessus  de  la  ville.  Le  port  parait  fort  beau  et  il  y  a  deux  fois 
autant  de  vaisseaux  qu'a  Boston.  Ce  que  j'ai  vu  de  la  ville  est 
assez  bien,  mais  il  y  fait  horriblement  chaud.  II  y  a  com6die  et 
nous  comptons  y  aller  demain.  II  y  a  aussi  beaticoup  de  soldats, 
de  marins,  et  de  refugies,  les  derniers  tr£s  honnetes  et  polis  a  ce 
qu'on  dit,  mais  les  autres  fort  insolens.  Nous  comptons  partir 
apres-demain  pour  Philadelphie,  ou  j'espere  trouver  de  tes  nou- 
velles  et  de  celles  de  N.  W.  Dans  notre  passage  de  Providence 
nous  avions  pour  compagnon  de  passage  (parmi  plusieurs  autres) 
un  docteur  fra^ais  ou  barbier,  plus  bavard  que  La  Chapelle, 
plus  impudent  que  St.  Pri  et  plus  bete — ma  foi,  je  ne  sais  a  qui 
le  comparer  pour  cela;  c'e"tait  un  sot  fran9ais  au  superlatif;  il 
a  r£ussi  a  nous  escroquer  trois  piastres,  sans  compter  ce  qu'il  a 
fait  aux  autres.  Les  filles  ne  sont  pas  si  jolies  ici  qu'&  Boston 
et  nous  n'avons  pas  encore  eu  la  moindre  aventure  galante  dans 
toute  notre  route.  Au  reste,  comme  tu  es  sans  doute  a  present 
un  grave  maitre  d'e"cole  et  que  tu  dois  avoir  pris  toute  la  pManterie 
inseparable  du  metier,  ce  n'est  plus  a  toi  que  j'oserais  faire  de 
telles  confidences.  J7espere  cependant  que  tu  n'auras  pas  long- 
terns  a  t'ennuyer  a  ce  sot  emploi  et  je  t'ecrirai  tout  ce  que  nous 
avons  a  esp^rer  d£s  que  je  serai  a  Philadelphie.  Porte-toi  bien. 
Tout  a  toi. 

Mr.  Savary  te  fait  bien  des  complimens.  Notre  autre  com- 
pagnon de  voyage  n'est  pas  ici.  Aussi  je  les  supposerai  en  son 
nom.  II  est  arrive  hier  ici  une  frigate  d'Angleterre  qui  a,  dit-on, 
apporte"  le  traite"  d^finitif  .  .  .  traite"  de  commerce  de.  .  .  . 

The  M.  Savary  mentioned  here  as  Gallatin's  fellow-traveller 
from  Boston  was  to  have  a  great  influence  on  his  fortunes.  M. 
Savary  de  Yalcoulon  was  from  Lyons.  Having  claims  against 
the  State  of  Virginia,  he  had  undertaken  himself  to  collect  them, 


46  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1783. 

and  meeting  Gallatin  at  Boston,  they  had  become  travelling  com- 
panions. They  went  to  Philadelphia  together,  where  they  re- 
mained till  November.  Serre  rejoined  them  there;  but  Gallatin's 
means  were  now  quite  exhausted.  Their  combined  expenses, 
since  quitting  Geneva,  had  been  in  three  years  about  sixteen 
hundred  dollars,  including  three  hundred  dollars  lost  by  the 
Treasury  warrant.  Of  this  sum  Gallatin  had  advanced  about 
thirteen  hundred  dollars,  Serre's  father  resolutely  refusing  to  send 
his  son  any  money  at  all  or  to  honor  his  drafts.  A  settlement 
was  now  made.  Serre  gave  to  Gallatin  his  note  for  half  the  debt, 
about  six  hundred  dollars,  and,  joining  a  countryman  named 
Mussard,  went  to  Jamaica,  where  he  died,  in  1784,  of  the  West 
India  fever.  Fifty-three  years  afterwards  his  sister  by  will  re- 
paid the  principal  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  had,  with  great  delicacy, 
declined  to  ask  for  payment.  But  when  this  separation  between 
Gallatin  and  Serre  took  place,  it  was  intended  to  be  temporary 
only;  Serre  was  to  return  and  to  rejoin  his  friend,  who  mean- 
while was  to  carry  out  their  scheme  of  retreat  by  a  new  emigra- 
tion. The  sea-coast  was  not  yet  far  enough  removed  from  civili- 
zation; they  were  bent  upon  putting  another  month's  journey 
between  themselves  and  Europe;  the  Ohio  was  now  their  aim. 
There  may  be  a  doubt  whether  they  drew  Savary  in  this  direc- 
tion, or  whether  Savary  pointed  out  the  path  to  them.  In  any 
case,  Serre  sailed  for  Jamaica  in  the  middle  of  September,  before 
the  new  plans  were  entirely  settled,  and  nothing  was  ever  heard 
from  him  again  until  repeated  inquiries  produced,  in  the  autumn 
of  1786,  a  brief  but  apparently  authentic  report  of  his  death 
two  years  before.  Gallatin  accepted  Savary's  offers,  and  went 
with  him  to  Richmond  to  assist  him  in  the  settlement  of  his 
claims.  But  before  they  left  Philadelphia  a  larger  scheme  was 
projected.  Savary  and  Gallatin  were  to  become  partners  in  a 
purchase  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  in 
Western  Virginia,  Gallatin's  interest  being  one-fourth  of  the 
whole,  and  his  share  to  be  paid,  until  his  majority,  in  the  form 
of  personal  superintendence. 

Meanwhile,  a  premonitory  symptom  of  revolution  had  oc- 
curred in  Geneva.  The  two  parties  had  come  to  blows;  blood 
was  shed;  the  adjoining  governments  of  Switzerland,  France, 


1783.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  47 

and  Savoy  had  interposed,  and  held  the  city  in  armed  occupa- 
tion. The  Liberals  were  deeply  disgusted  at  this  treatment,  and 
to  those  who  had  already  left  their  country  the  temptation  to 
return  became  smaller  than  ever. 


GALLATIN  TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  ce  ler  octobre,  1783. 

Mon  bon  ami,  je  viens  de  recevoir  ta  lettre  du  20  mars  qui  a 
quelques  egards  m'a  fait  le  plus  grand  plaisir,  mais  qui  en  m'ap- 
prenant  toutes  les  circonstances  des  troubles  de  notre  malheureuse 
patrie  a  acheve"  de  m'oter  toute  esp£rance  de  jamais  pouvoir  m'y 
fixer.  Non,  mon  ami,  il  est  impossible  &  un  homme  de  sens  et 
vertueux,  n6  citoyen  d'un  e*tat  libre,  et  qui  est  venu  sucer  encore 
Tamour  de  Pindependance  dans  le  pays  le  plus  libre  de  Punivers; 
il  est  impossible,  dis-je,  &  cet  homme,  quelques  puissent  avoir  e*te" 
les  prejuges  de  son  enfance,  d'aller  jouer  nulle  part  le  r6le  de 
tyran  ou  d'esclave,  et  comme  je  ne  vois  pas  qu'il  y  ait  d'autre 
situation  &  choisir  a  Geneve,  je  me  vois  force"  de  renoncer  pour 
toujours  &  ces  murs  che"ris  qui  m'ont  vu  naitre,  a  ma  famille,  & 
mes  amis ;  &  moins  qu'une  nouvelle  revolution  ne  change  beau- 
coup  la  situation  des  affaires.  Tu  vois  par  ce  que  je  viens  de  te 
dire  que  la  facon  de  penser  de  mes  parens  n'influe  point  sur  la 
mienne  et  que  j'en  ai  change"  depuis  mon  depart  d'Europe.  II 
est  tout  simple  qu'e"tant  entoure  des  gens  qui  pensent  tous  de  la 
me'me  maniere,  on  s'habitue  a  penser  comme  eux ;  des  que  Ton 
commence  &  £tre  de  leur  parti,  le  prejuge  a  deja  pris  possession 
de  vous  et  d,  moins  que  par  un  heureux  hasard  la  raison  et  le  bon 
droit  ne  soient  du  cote*  que  vous  avez  embrasse,  vous  tomberez 
d'e"carts  en  hearts,  de  torts  en  torts,  et  vous  ne  verrez  les  exces 
auxquels  vous  vous  serez  abandonne"  que  lorsque  quelqu'e"v£ne- 
ment  d'eclat  vous  aura  ouvert  les  yeux.  En  voil&  je  crois  assez 
pour  me  justifier  d'avoir  e"te  N6gatif  a  19  ans  lorsque  j'abandon- 
nai  Geneve.  Mais  a  1200  lieues  de  distance  on  juge  bien  plus 
sainement ;  le  jugement  n'etant  plus  embarrass^  par  les  petites 
raisons,  les  petits  prejugfe,  les  petites  vues  et  les  petite  inte'rets  de 
vos  alentours,  ne  voit  plus  que  le  fond  de  la  question,  et  peut 
decider  hardiment.  Si  1'on  se  laisse  gagner  par  un  peu  d'en- 


48  LIFE    OP    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1783. 

thousiasme  il  y  a  mille  a  gager  centre  un  que  ce  sera  en  faveur 
de  la  bonne  cause.  Voila  ce  qui  pen  a  peu  produisit  un  grand 
changement  dans  mon  opinion  apres  mon  arrived  en  Amerique. 
Je  fus  bientdt  convaincu  par  la  comparaison  des  gouvernemens 
americains  avec  celui  de  Geneve  que  ce  dernier  6tait  fonde  sur  de 
mauvais  principes ;  que  le  pouvoir  judicatif  tant  au  civil  qu'au 
criminel,  le  pouvoir  executif  en  entier,  et  f  du  pouvoir  legislatif 
appartenant  a  deux  corps  qui  se  creaient  presqu'entierement  eux- 
m£mes,  et  dont  les  membres  etaient  elus  a  vie,  il  £tait  presqu'im- 
possible  que  cette  formidable  aristocratic  ne  rompit  tot  ou  tard 
Fequilibre  que  Pon  s'imaginait  pouvoir  subsister  a  Geneve.  Je 
compris  que  le  droit  d'elire  la  moitie  des  membres  de  Pun  de  ces 
conseils  sans  avoir  celui  de  les  d£placer  et  le  droit  de  deplacer 
annuellement  la  6me  partie  des  membres  de  Fautre  n?£taient  que 
de  faibles  barrieres  contre  des  homines  qui  avaient  la  fortune  et  la 
vie  des  citoyens  entre  les  mains,  le  soin  de  la  police  de  la  maniere 
la  plus  £tendue,  deux  nSgatifs  sur  toutes  les  volontes  du  peuple, 
et  dont  les  charges  etaient  a  \  le,  pour  ne  pas  dire  he>editaires. 
Quelle  difference  entre  un  tel  gouvernement  et  celui  d'un  pays 
ou  les  diffe"rents  conseils  a  qui  sont  confies  les  pouvoirs  legislatifs 
et  ex^cutifs  ne  sont  elus  que  pour  une  annee,  ou  les  juges,  qui  ne 
font  qu'expliquer  la  loi,  une  fois  elus  ne  sont  plus  sous  1'influence 
du  souverain  et  ne  peuvent  ^tre  d^placfe  que  juridiquement,  ou 
enfin  Ton  est  juge"  non  pas  meme  par  ces  juges  de  nom,  mais  par 
1 2  citoyens  pris  parmi  les  honne1  tes  gens  et  que  1'es  parties  peuvent 
re"cuser.  (Tu  ne  seras  pas  e'tonne',  mon  ami,  apres  une  telle  com- 
paraison, que  je  me  sois  decide"  a  me  fixer  ici.)  En  voyant  les 
d^fauts  du  gouvernement  genevois,  je  sentis  qu'il  6tait  de  Fin- 
t^ret  des  partisans  de  la  liberte  de  veiller  de  pres  les  aristocrates, 
mais  non  pas  de  vouloir  les  combattre.  Le  parti  violent  qu'ont 
embrasse"  les  repr4sentans  ne  peut  6tre  justifi6  qu'en  disant  que 
les  circonstances  les  ont  entrained,  car  il  6tait  impossible  de  n'en 
pas  pr^voir  les  consequences  et  que  la  politique  artificieuse  des 
negatifs  en  tireroit  tout  le  parti  possible;  je  n'ai  rien  a  aj outer 
a  ce  que  tu  dis  sur  la  bassesse  de  ces  derniers,  et  la  faute  des 
citoyens  produite  par  Fenthousiasme  de  liberte  n'est  que  trop 
se"  vehement  punie. 

La  lettre  que  je  viens  de  recevoir  est  la  premiere  qui  nous  soit 


1783.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  49 

parvenue  de  celles  que  tu  nous  annonces  nous  avoir  toites.  J'ai 
quitt6  Cambridge  en  juillet  de  cette  ann6e  et  je  suis  venu  ici  oft 
je  n'ai  encore  rien  trouve  a  faire  qui  me  convienne.  Serre  n'est 
pas  ici ;  je  Fai  Iaiss6  a  Boston  d'oti  il  est  parti  pour  aller  a  ... 
et  d'ou  il  ne  reviendra  que  Fanned  prochaine.  Ce  n'est  pas  pour 
toi  que  je  cache  le  lieu  actuel  de  sa  residence,  mais  il  a  des  raisons 
pour  que  d'autres  Fignorent  et  j'ai  peur  que  cette  lettre  n'e"prouve 
des  accidents.  J'irai  en  Yirginie  bientot,  mais  ecris-moi  a 
Philadelphie :  To  Albert  Gallatin,  citizen  of  Geneva,  Phila- 
delphia. Ce  n'est  que  de  peur  d'e"quivoque  que  je  conserve  le 
titre  de  citizen  of  Geneva.  Ecris  a  Serre  sous  nion  adresse.  Tu 
ne  saurais  croire  le  plaisir  que  j'ai  e"prouve"  en  apprenant  que  tu 
etais  agreablement  et  avantageusement  place,  mais  tu  ne  m?a  pas 
donn6  assez  de  details  sur  ce  qui  te  concerne;  re"pare  ta  faute  par 
ta  premiere  lettre. 

Tu  desires  sans  doute  savoir  quelles  sont  mes  vues  pour 
Favenir ;  les  voici !  Ay  ant  pour  ainsi  dire  renonc6  a  Geneve,  je 
n'ai  pas  dti.  he"siter  sur  la  choix  de  la  patrie  que  je  devais  choisir, 
et  FAme"rique  m'a  paru  le  pays  le  plus  propre  a  me  fixer  par  sa 
constitution,  son  climat,  et  les  ressources  que  j'y  pouvais  trouver. 
Mais  il  serait  bien  dur  pour  moi  de  me  voir  se"par6  de  tous  mes 
amis  et  c'e"tait  sur  toi  que  je  comptais  pour  me  faire  passer  une 
vie  agre"able.  Dumont,  dis-tu,  te  retient;  mais  qu'est-ce  qui 
retient  Dumont?  II  ne  doit  pas  douter  de  tout  le  plaisir  que 
j'aurais  a  le  voir.  Si  toi,  lui,  Serre  et  moi  6tions  r&mis,  ne 
formerions-nous  pas  une  socie"t6  tres-agre"able  ?  Tu  vois  que  je 
compte  que  vous  seriez  tous  les  deux  aussi  charme's  d'etre  avec 
Serre  et  moi  que  nous  deux  d'etre  avec  vous.  Reste  a  proposer 
les  moyens  de  pouvoir  £tre  passablement  heureux  quand  nous 
serons  r6unis  en  ayaut  un  honnete  n^cessaire  et  jouissant  de  cette 
me'diocrite'  a  laquelle  je  borne  tous  mes  voeux.  Comme  la  cam- 
pagne  est  notre  passion  favorite,  c'est  de  ce  c6t6  que  se  tournent 
entierement  mes  projets.  Dans  Fespace  situe  entre  les  Apalaches 
et  les  Mississippi,  sur  les  deux  rives  de  FOhio  se  trouvent  les 
meilleures  terres  de  FAmeYique,  et  comme  le  climat  en  est  tem- 
pSre"  je  les  pr4f«§rerais  a  celles  de  Machias  et  de  la  Nouvelle- 
Angleterre.  Celles  au  nord  de  FOhio  appartiennent  au  Congr£s, 
et  celles  du  sud  a  la  Virginie,  aux  Carolines  et  a  la  Georgie.  Le 

4 


50  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1783. 

Congr£s  n'en  a  encore  point  vendu  ou  donne".  C'est  done  de 
celles  de  Virginie  dont  je  vais  parler,  quoique  ce  que  j'en  dirai 
puisse  s'appliquer  au  nord  de  FOhio  si  les  achats  quand  ils  se 
feront  y  etaient  plus  avantageux.  Je  rejette  les  deux  Carolines 
et  la  Georgie  comme  malsaines  et  moins  avantageuses.  Les 
terres  depuis  le  grand  Canaway  qui  se  jette  dans  FOhio  250 
milles  au-dessous  du  Fort  Duquesne  ou  Fort  Pitt  ou  Pittsburg, 
jusques  tout  pr£s  de  Pendroit  ou  FOhio  se  de"charge  dans  le  Mis- 
sissippi, ont  e"te"  achete"es  a  tres-bas  prix  par  divers  particuliers 
de  Ffitat  de  Virginie,  et  c'est  d'eux  qu'il  faudrait  les  racheter. 
Elles  valent  depuis  30  sols  &  20  francs  (argent  de  France)  Facre 
suivant  leur  qualite"  et  surtout  leur  situation.  Celles  qui  sont 
situe"es  pres  de  la  chute  de  FOhio,  le  seul  e"tablissement  qu'il  y 
ait  dans  cet  espace,  sont  les  plus  cheres.  On  peut  en  avoir 
d'excellentes  partout  ailleurs  pour  50  sols  ou  3  francs.  Je  vais 
actuellement  en  Virginie  et  d'apres  mes  informations  j'en  achete- 
rai  2  a  3  mille  acres  dans  une  situation  avantageuse.  Si  tu  te 
determines  a  venir  te  fixer  avec  moi,  je  tournerai  sur-le-champ 
toutes  mes  vues  de  ce  c6te"-la.  Je  ne  te  demanderais  pas  de 
quitter  imme'diatement  la  place  avantageuse  que  tu  as,  mais 
seulement  de  me  donner  une  reponse  decisive.  Aussitot  que  ma 
majorite",  qui  sera  le  29  Janvier,  1786,  sera  arrivee,  j'emploierai 
ma  petite  fortune  •  a  fixer  un  certain  nombre  de  families  de 
fermiers  irlandais,  ame*ricains,  &c.,  autour  de  moi,  parcequ'ils 
m'enrichiront  en  se  rendant  heureux  (enrichir  veut  dire  une 
m^diocrit^  ais6e).  Tu  sens  bien  que  si  c'est  mon  avantage  de 
faire  des  avances  &  des  indifferents,  ce  sera  me  rendre  service  que 
de  venir  te  joindre  &  nous,  et  que  le  peu  que  tu  pourras  apporter, 
joint  a  ce  qu'il  sera  de  mon  propre  inte're't  de  t'avancer,  te  mettra 
en  e"tat  de  te  former  une  habitation  par  toi-m^me,  car  depuis  ton 
paragraphe  des  deux  louis  je  n'ose  plus  te  dire  que  ce  que  j'ai 
t'appartient  comme  a  moi-m^me.  Quant  a  moi  j?accepterais,  je 
ne  dis  pas  un  pr6t  mais  un  don  de  toi  comme  si  je  prenais  dans 
ma  bourse,  et  je  suis  tellement  identifie"  avec  toi  et  Serre  que 
toutes  les  fois  que  je  dis  Je  en  parlant  ou  en  pensant  &  quel- 
que  plan  de  vie  on  &  quelque  e"tablissement,  j  intends  toujours 
Badollet,  Serre  et  Moi.  Je  ne  suis  pas  tout-a-fait  aussi  lie  avec 
Dumont,  mais  je  le  suis  autant  avec  lui  qu'avec  qui  que  ce  soit 


1783.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  51 

except^  Serre  et  toi,  et  comme  depuis  mon  depart  de  Geneve  je 
me  suis  beaucoup  rapproche"  de  sa  fa§on  de  penser  &  bien  des 
e"gards,  comme  il  re"unit  les  qualit4s  du  coeur  et  de  Fesprit,  il  n'y 
a  personne  que  je  desirasse  voir  venir  avec  toi  plus  que  lui,  et  a 
qui,  si  je  le  pouvais,  je  fusse  de  quelque  utility  avec  plus  de 
plaisir.  J'espere  qu'en  voila  assez  pour  Fengager  a  nous  joindre 
s'il  n'est  pas  retenu  a  Geneve  par  des  liens  bien  forts,  et  si  ses 
gouts  sont  les  monies  que  les  n6tres.  Je  n'ai  pas  besoin  de  te 
dire  qu'en  s'e"tablissant  dans  un  bois  loin  des  villes  et  n'ayant 
que  peu  d'habitans  autour  de  soi,  Ton  doit  s'attendre  dans  les 
commencements  a  bien  des  privations  et  surtout  ne  compter  sur 
aucune  des  jouissances  raffinees  des  villes.  Je  me  sens  assez  de 
courage  pour  cela,  mais  je  ne  conseillerais  a  personne  de  prendre 
ce  parti  sans  s'e'tre  bien  consulte".  Comme  je  suis  tres-gueux 
dans  ce  moment-ci,  comme  plus  tu  restes  dans  ta  place  actuelle 
et  plus  tu  te  prepares  de  moyens  de  re"ussite  pour  Fa  venir,  et 
comme  il  vaut  mieux  perdre  un  an  que  de  s'appre"ter  des  regrets, 
attends  des  nouvelles  plus  positives  pour  partir  a  moins  que  tu 
n'aies  rien  de  mieux  a  faire.  Mais  surtout  ne  prends  point 
d'engagemens  en  Europe  qui  pussent  t'emp^cher  de  venir  nous 
joindre  dans  Fannee  prochaine  ou  au  plus  tard  dans  la  suivante. 
Si  parmi  les  personnes  que  les  malheurs  de  notre  patrie  en 
chassent,  il  s'en  trouvait  quelques-unes  qui  d6sirassent  re"unir 
leurs  petites  fortunes  pour  former  un  Stablissement  un  peu  plus 
considerable,  je  de"sirerais  que  tu  me  le  fisses  savoir.  Je  pourrai 
depuis  la  Yirginie  leur  proposer  un  plan  plus  determine  et  plus 
stir.  Je  ne  crois  pas  ce  pays  bien  propre  a  e"tablir  des  manufac- 
tures ;  je  ne  parle  que  de  petits  capitalistes  comme  moi,  et  de 
fermiers  ou  ouvriers,  ces  derniers  (les  ouvriers)  en  petit  nombre. 
S'il  y  avait  un  nombre  suffisant  de  gens  qui  voulussent  s'expa- 
trier,  peut-etre  le  Congres  leur  accorderait  des  terres.  Je  serais 
charmS  de  pouvoir  e"tre  utile  a  tous  ceux  de  mes  compatriotes  que 
leur  amour  pour  la  liberte  a  force's  de  quitter  Geneve,  et  s'ils 
tournaient  leur  vue  sur  les  ]5tats-Unis  ils  pourraient  compter  sur 
mon  z£le  a  leur  donner  tous  les  renseignemens  et  a  faire  toutes 
les  demarches  qui  pourraient  leur  4tre  de  quelque  utilite".  Les 
citoyens  ame'ricains  sont  tres-bien  intentionnfe  a  leur  e"gard  et  il 
y  a  eu  beaucoup  de  refroidissemens  entre  eux  et  les  Francais  a  leur 


52  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1783. 

sujet.  II  y  a  environ  un  mois  qu'un  homme  (Tun  rang  et  d'un 
m^rite  distingue"  de  Philadelphie  demandait  &  PAmbassadeur 
fransais  pourquoi  sa  Majeste*  Tres-Chre"tienne  s'e*tait  melee  des 
divisions  des  Genevois.  C'e"tait  pour  leur  bien,  re"pondit  Mr. 
de  Marbois,  consul  de  France.  J'esp£re,  r6pliqua  PAm6ricam, 
que  le  roi  ne  prendra  jamais  notre  bien  assez  a  co3iir  pour  se 
meler  de  nos  brouilleries  intestines.  On  ne  lui  fit  aucune  re"ponse. 
Quelque  haine  que  je  puisse  avoir  contre  le  Ministere  fran9ais 
qui  nous  a  perdus,  elle  ne  s'e"tend  point  j usque  sur  toute  leur 
nation ;  je  fais  le  plus  grand  cas  d'un  grand  nombre  de  ses  in- 
dividus  et  il  y  en  a  quelques-uns  a  qui  personnellement  j'ai  des 
obligations  essentielles. 

Je  souhaiterais  que  cette  lettre  ne  fut  pas  vue  de  mes  parens  a 
Geneve,  non  pas  que  je  veuille  qu'ils  ignorent  ma  faeon  de  penser 
politique,  ou  que  des  vues  interesse'es  me  fassent  de*sirer  que  mes 
oncles  ne  sussent  pas  que  je  veux  me  fixer  en  Ame"rique,  ce  qui 
est  renoncer  a  toutes  mes  esperances  de  ce  cote-la,  mais  parceque 
cette  resolution,  si  elle  e*tait  connue,  ferait  trop  de  peine  a  ma 
tendre  mSre  Mile.  Pictet,  qui  est  le  seul  chainon  subsistant  des 
liens  qui  me  retenaient  a  Geneve.  Je  ne  veux  pas  dire  par  la 
qu'elle  soit  la  seule  personne  qui  m'y  attire ;  j?y  ai  des  amis  et 
surtout  une  amie  qu'il  me  serait  bien  dur  de  quitter ;  mais  tu 
me  connais  assez  pour  comprendre  quels  doivent  etre  mes  senti- 
mens  a  Fegard  de  la  personne  a  qui  je  dois  tout  et  que  j'ai  bien 
mal  recompense*e  de  son  amiti6  et  de  ses  soins. 

Mille  amities  a  Dumont.  Fais  faire  mes  complimens  & 
d'lvernois;  la  mani&re  dont  il  s'est  comport^  lui  fait  beaucoup 
d'honneur.  Ecris-moi  promptement  et  longuement.  Je  te  don- 
nerai  des  nouvelles  plus  positives  dans  deux  mois.  Si  tu  changes 
de  demeure,  prie  Me.  de  Yivens  de  t'envoyer  les  lettres  qui  te 
parviendront,  et  indique-moi  ton  adresse.  J'espere  que  tu  vien- 
dras  bient6t  tirer  parti  de  ton  Anglais.  Tout  homme  qui  a  des 
terres  ici  devient  citoyen  et  a  droit  de  donner  sa  voix  pour  en- 
voyer  son  repre"sentant  ou  depute*  a  FAssembl^e  G^n^rale,  et  celui 
d^tre  6lu  soi-m£me  s?il  en  est  digne.  Adieu,  mon  bon  ami.  Tout 
a  toi. 

Cette  lettre  est  mise  abord  du  brig  Le  Comte  du  Duras,  Capi- 


1783.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  53 

taine  Fournier,  allant  a  Bordeaux,  et  adressSe  a  Messrs.  Archer, 
Baix  &  Cie. 

12  novembre,  1783. 

Mon  bon  ami,  le  sus-dit  vaisseau  a  fait  naufrage  a  I'entre'e  de 
la  Delaware.  L/e"quipage  s'est  sauve"  et  ma  lettre  m'est  revenue. 
Je  me  porte  toujours  bien.  Je  pars  demain  matin  pour  Virginie 
d'ou  je  reviendrai  dans  deux  mois.  Adresse  toujours  a  Phila- 
delphie.  Je  suis  entre"  pour  J  dans  une  speculation  de  120,000 
acres  de  terre  en  Virginie.  Cela  de  toi  a  moi.  Tout  a  toi. 

Clearly  young  Gallatin  now  thought  that  he  had  found  the 
destiny  so  long  imagined,  and,  modest  as  his  sketch  of  their 
future  prospects  may  appear,  his  acts  show  that  the  original 
scheme  of  bettering  his  fortune  was  by  no  means  abandoned,  but 
rather  entertained  on  a  vaster  scale.  He  had  solved  the  difficulty 
of  speculating  without  capital  and  without  debt;  for  certainly 
that  modest  retreat  which  he  imagined  for  himself,  Serre,  and 
Badollet,  did  not  require  operations  on  the  scale  of  a  hundred 
thousand  acres,  and  the  element  of  speculation  must  have  absorbed 
four-fifths  of  his  thoughts.  At  this  time,  indeed,  and  for  many 
years  afterwards,  all  America  was  engaged  in  these  speculations. 
General  Washington  was  deep  in  them,  and,  as  will  be  seen, 
jostled  against  Gallatin  in  the  very  act  of  opening  up  his  lands. 
Robert  Morris  was  a  wild  speculator,  and  closed  his  public  career 
a  bankrupt  and  in  prison  for  that  reason.  Promising  as  the 
prospect  was  and  certain  as  the  ultimate  profits  seemed,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  prove  that  any  one  was  ever  really  enriched  by 
these  investments;  certainly  in  Gallatin's  case,  as  in  the  case  of 
Washington  and  Robert  Morris,  the  result  was  trouble,  disap- 
pointment, and  loss.  It  was  for  Gallatin  something  worse;  it 
was  another  false  start. 

For  the  moment,  however,  he  was  with  Savary  at  Richmond, 
attending  to  Savary's  claims  and  making  preparations  for  his 
Western  expedition.  No  more  complaints  of  ennui  are  heard. 
Richmond  has  far  other  fascinations  than  Boston.  To  the  end 
of  his  life  Mr.  Gallatin  always  recalled  with  pleasure  his  ex- 
periences at  this  city,  where  he  first  began  to  feel  his  own  powers 
and  to  see  them  recognized  by  the  world.  In  a  letter  written  in 


54  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1784. 

1848,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  to  the  Virginia  Historical 
Society,  he  expressed  this  feeling  with  all  the  warmth  that  age 
gives  to  its  recollections  of  youth.1 

"  I  cannot  complain  of  the  world.  I  have  been  treated  with 
kindness  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  where  I  have  re- 
sided. But  it  was  at  Richmond,  where  I  spent  most  of  the 
winters  between  the  years  1783  and  1789,  that  I  was  received 
with  that  old  proverbial  Virginia  hospitality  to  which  I  know 
no  parallel  anywhere  within  the  circle  of  my  travels.  It  was 
not  hospitality  only  that  was  shown  to  me.  I  do  not  know  how 
it  came  to  pass,  but  every  one  with  whom  I  became  acquainted 
appeared  to  take  an  interest  in  the  young  stranger.  I  was  only 
the  interpreter  of  a  gentleman  the  agent  of  a  foreign  house  that 
had  a  large  claim  for  advances  to  the  State ;  and  this  made  me 
known  to  all  the  officers  of  government  and  some  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  Legislature.  It  gave  me  the  first 
opportunity  of  showing  some  symptoms  of  talent,  even  as  a 
speaker,  of  which  I  was  not  myself  aware.  Every  one  encouraged 
me  and  was  disposed  to  promote  my  success  in  life.  To  name 
all  those  from  whom  I  received  offers  of  service  would  be  to 
name  all  the  most  distinguished  residents  at  that  time  at  Rich- 
mond. I  will  only  mention  two :  John  Marshall,  who,  though 
but  a  young  lawyer  in  1783,  was  almost  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in 
1786,  offered  to  take  me  in  his  office  without  a  fee,  and  assured 
me  that  I  would  become  a  distinguished  lawyer.'  Patrick  Henry 
advised  me  to  go  to  the  West,  where  I  might  study  law  if  I 
chose ;  but  predicted  that  I  was  intended  for  a  statesman,  and 
told  me  that  this  was  the  career  which  should  be  my  aim ;  he 
also  rendered  me  several  services  on  more  than  one  occasion." 

Gallatin  remained  in  Richmond  till  the  end  of  February, 
1784,  and  then  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  made  the 
final  preparations  for  his  expedition  to  the  West.  None  of  his 
letters  are  preserved,  but  his  movements  may  be  followed  with 
tolerable  accuracy.  He  remained  in  Philadelphia  during  the 
month  of  March,  then  crossed  the  mountains  to  Pittsburg  in 
April,  went  down  the  Ohio  with  his  party,  and  passed  the  sum- 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  ii.,p.  659. 


1784.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  55 

mer  in  the  occupation  of  selecting  and  surveying  the  lands  for 
which  he  and  his  associates  had  purchased  warrants.  These  lands 
were  in  what  was  then  part  of  Monongalia  County,  Virginia ; 
but  this  county  was  in  wealth  and  resources  far  behind  the  ad- 
jacent one  of  Fayette,  in  Pennsylvania,  where  no  Indians  had 
ever  penetrated  since  its  first  settlement  in  1769,  whereas  Monon- 
galia had  suffered  severely  from  Indian  depredations  in  the  Revo- 
lution, a  fact  which  decided  Savary  and  Gallatin  to  fix  upon  a 
base  of  operations  as  near  the  Pennsylvania  line  as  possible. 
They  selected  the  farm  of  Thomas  Clare,  situated  on  the  river 
Monongahela  and  George's  Creek,  about  four  miles  north  of  the 
Virginia  line,  and  here  they  established  a  store. 

Gallatin  seems  to  have  been  detained  till  late  in  the  year  by 
these  occupations.  They  excluded  all  other  thoughts  from  his 
mind.  He  wrote  no  letters ;  perhaps  it  would  have  been  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  find  a  conveyance  if  he  had  written 
them.  There  is  but  one  fragment  of  his  handwriting  before  the 
close  of  the  year,  and  this  only  an  unfinished  draft  of  a  letter  to 
Badollet,  which  is  worth  inserting,  not  only  because  there  is  no- 
thing else,  but  because  it  shows  what  was  engaging  his  thoughts. 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

DES  BORDS  DE  LA  SusQUEHANNA,  29  decembre,  1784. 
Mon  bon  ami,  retenu  ici  aujourd'hui  par  le  mauvais  temps 
dans  une  miserable  auberge,  je  vais  tacher  de  passer  quelques 
moments  agre"ables  en  causant  avec  toi.  Je  laissai  Boston  en 
juillet,  1783,  et  vins  a  Philadelphie  avec  M.  Savary  de  Val- 
coulon  de  Lyon,  appele"  par  ses  affaires  en  Ame'rique  et  qui  n'en- 
tendant  pas  I7 Anglais  e"tait  bien  aise  d'avoir  avec  lui  quelqu'un 
qui  le  sut;  ou  qui  plutot  ayant  pris  de  Famiti6  pour  moi  et 
voyant  que  ma  situation  dans  la  Nouvelle-Angleterre  e"tait  loin 
d'etre  gracieuse,  crut  qu'il  me  serait  plus  avantageux  de  changer 
de  place  et  me  promit  de  m'e"tre  aussi  utile  qu'il  le  pourrait.  II 
m'a  bien  tenu  parole.  Non-seulement  il  m'a  aide"  de  sa  bourse 
et  de  son  credit,  mais  il  m'a  mis  a  m^me  d'espe"rer  un  jour  de 
pouvoir  jouir  du  plaisir  de  vivre  heureux  avec  Serre  et  toi.  Tu 
sens  qu'un  homme  &  qui  j'ai  consenti  d'avoir  des  obligations  doit 


56  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1784. 

avoir  un  cceur  digne  d'etre  mon  ami,  et  je  crois  te  faire  plaisir 
en  t?annon9ant  que  ses  plans  sont  les  m£mes  que  les  ndtres  et  que 
probablement  tu  auras  dans  ce  pays  un  ami  de  plus  que  tu 
ne  Fespe*rais.  Apr£s  avoir  pass6  quatre  mois  a  Philadelphie, 
pendant  lesquels  Serre  fut  force"  par  notre  situation  de  passer  a 
la  Jamai'que  avec  Mussard  de  Geneve,  M.  Savary  passa  en  Vir- 
ginie  pour  des  dettes  que  cet  6tat  avait  contracted  avec  sa  maison, 
et  je  Fy  accompagnai.  Ses  plans  de  retraite  e"tant  les  monies  que 
les  miens,  nous  formions  souvent  ensemble  des  chateaux-en- 
Espagne  lorsque  le  hasard  nous  oifrit  une  occasion  qui  nous  fit 
espe"rer  que  nous  pourrions  les  realiser.  LJe"tat  de  Virginie  est 
borne*  au  sud  par  la  Caroline,  a  Fest  par  la  mer,  au  nord  par  le 
Maryland  et  la  Pensilvanie,  au  nord-ouest  et  a  Fouest  par  la 
riviere  Ohio,  ou  Belle  Riviere,  et  par  le  Mississippi.  Une 
chaine  de  montagnes  nominees  Apalaches  ou  Allegheny  qui 
courant  sud-ouest  et  nord-est  &  environ  50  lieues  de  la  mer 
traverse  tous  les  Etats-Unis  de  FAme'rique,  separe  la  Virginie 
en  deux  parties,  dont  la  plus  petite  comprise  entre  la  mer  et  les 
montagnes  est  sans  comparaison  la  plus  peuplee.  L'autre,  in- 
finiment  plus  grande,  ne  contient  que  deux  e"tablissements.  L'un 
joignant  les  montagnes  et  le  reste  des  anciens  e"tablissements 
s'e"tend  sur  FOhio  jusqu'a  Fishing  Creek  150  milles  au-dessous 
de  Fort  Pitt,  et  de  la  par  une  ligne  parallele  a  peu  pr£s  aux 
montagnes,  formant  au-dela  de  ces  montagnes  une  lisiere  d'en- 
viron  10  a  20  lieues  de  largeur  qui  contient  environ  500  families. 
Le  second  e"tablissement  qui  est  celui  de  Kentuckey,  que  tu  e"cris 
Quintoquay,  est  situe"  sur  la  riviere  du  m^me  nom  qui  tombe 
dans  FOhio  700  milles  au-dessous  de  Fort  Pitt.  II  contient  a 
present  20  a  30  mille  ames  et  est  entour^  et  se'pare*  de  tous  les 
pays  habitSs  par  des  deserts 

There  is,  however,  one  proof  that  he  was  at  George's  Creek  in 
the  month  of  September  of  this  year.  Among  Mr.  John  Russell 
Bartlett's  "Reminiscences  of  Mr.  Gallatin"  is  the  following  anec- 
dote, which  can  only  refer  to  this  time : 

"  Mr.  Gallatin  said  he  first  met  General  Washington  at  the 
office  of  a  land  agent  near  the  Kenawha  River,  in  North- Western 
Virginia,  where  he  (Mr.  G.)  had  been  engaged  in  surveying. 


1784.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  57 

The  office  consisted  of  a  log  house  fourteen  feet  square,  in  which 
was  but  one  room.  In  one  corner  of  this  was  a  bed  for  the  use 
of  the  agent.  General  Washington,  who  owned  large  tracts  of 
land  in  this  region,  was  then  visiting  them  in  company  with  his 
nephew,  and  at  the  same  time  examining  the  country  with  a 
view  of  opening  a  road  across  the  Alleghanies.  Many  of  the 
settlers  and  hunters  familiar  with  the  country  had  been  invited 
to  meet  the  general  at  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  giving  him 
such  information  as  would  enable  him  to  select  the  most  eligible 
pass  for  the  contemplated  road.  Mr.  Gallatin  felt  a  desire  to 
meet  this  great  man,  and  determined  to  await  his  arrival. 

"  On  his  arrival,  General  Washington  took  his  seat  at  a  pine 
table  in  the  log  cabin,  or  rather  land  agent's  office,  surrounded 
by  the  men  who  had  come  to  meet  him.  They  all  stood  up,  as 
there  was  no  room  for  seats.  Some  of  the  more  fortunate,  how- 
ever, secured  quarters  on  the  bed.  They  then  underwent  an 
examination  by  the  general,  who  wrote  down  all  the  particulars 
stated  by  them.  He  was  very  inquisitive,  questioning  one  after 
the  other  and  noting  down  all  they  said.  Mr.  Gallatin  stood 
among  the  others  in  the  crowd,  though  quite  near  the  table,  and 
listened  attentively  to  the  numerous  queries  put  by  the  general, 
and  very  soon  discovered  from  the  various  relations  which  was 
the  only  practicable  pass  through  which  the  road  could  be  made. 
He  felt  uneasy  at  the  indecision  of  the  general,  when  the  point 
was  so  evident  to  him,  and  without  reflecting  on  the  impropriety 
of  it,  suddenly  interrupted  him,  saying,  '  Oh,  it  is  plain  enough, 
such  a  place  [a  spot  just  mentioned  by  one  of  the  settlers]  is 
the  most  practicable/  The  good  people  stared  at  the  young 
surveyor  (for  they  only  knew  him  as  such)  with  surprise, 
wondering  at  his  boldness  in  thrusting  his  opinion  unasked 
upon  the  general. 

"  The  interruption  put  a  sudden  stop  to  General  Washington's 
inquiries.  He  laid  down  his  pen,  raised  his  eyes  from  his  paper, 
and  cast  a  stern  look  at  Mr.  Gallatin,  evidently  offended  at  the 
intrusion  of  his  opinion,  but  said  not  a  word.  Resuming  his 
former  attitude,  he  continued  his  interrogations  for  a  few  minutes 
longer,  when  suddenly  stopping,  he  threw  down  his  pen,  turned 
to  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  said,  ' You  are  right,  sir/ 


58  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1784. 

t(<  It  was  so  on  all  occasions  with  General  Washington/  re- 
marked Mr.  Gallatin  to  me;  'he  was  slow  in  forming  an  opinion, 
and  never  decided  until  he  knew  he  was  right/ 

"  To  continue  the  narrative :  the  general  stayed  here  all  night, 
occupying  the  bed  alluded  to,  while  his  nephew,  the  land  agent, 
and  Mr.  Gallatin  rolled  themselves  in  blankets  and  buffalo-skins 
and  lay  upon  the  bare  floor.  After  the  examination  mentioned, 
and  when  the  party  went  out,  General  Washington  inquired  who 
the  young  man  was  who  had  interrupted  him,  made  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  learned  all  the  particulars  of  his  history.  They  occa- 
sionally met  afterwards,  and  the  general  urged  Mr.  Gallatin  to 
become  his  land  agent;  but  as  Mr.  Gallatin  was  then,  or  in- 
tended soon  to  become,  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land,  he 
was  compelled  to  decline  the  favorable  offer  made  him  by 
General  Washington." 

This  is  the  story  as  told  by  Mr.  Bartlett,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  its  essential  correctness.  But  General  Washington 
made  only  one  journey  to  the  West  during  which  he  could 
possibly  have  met  Mr.  Gallatin.  This  journey  was  in  the  month 
of  September,  1784,  and  was  not  to  the  Kanawha,  though  origi- 
nally meant  to  be  so.  He  went  no  farther  than  to  George's 
Creek,  and  it  so  happens  that  he  kept  a  diary  of  every  day's 
work  during  this  expedition.  The  diary  has  never  been  pub- 
lished ;  but  it  is  among  the  archives  in  the  State  Department 
at  Washington.  In  it  are  the  following  entries': 

"  September  23.  Arrived  at  Colonel  Phillips'  about  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  sixteen  miles  from  Beason  Town  and  near  the 
mouth  of  Cheat  River;  .  .  .  crossed  no  water  of  consequence 
except  George's  Creek.  An  apology  made  me  from  the  court  of 
Fayette  (through  Mr.  Smith)  for  not  addressing  me,  as  they  found 
my  horses  saddled  and  myself  on  the  move.  Finding  by  in- 
quiries that  the  Cheat  River  had  been  passed  with  canoes  through 
those  parts  which  had  been  represented  as  impassable,  and  that 
a  Captain  Hanway,  the  surveyor  of  Monongahela,  lived  within 
two  or  three  miles  of  it,  south  side  thereof,  I  resolved  to  pass  it 
to  obtain  further  information,  and  accordingly,  accompanied  by 
Colonel  Phillips,  set  off  in  the  morning  of  the 

"  24th,  and  crossed  it  at  the  mouth.  .  .  .  From  the  fork  to  the 


1785.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  59 

surveyor's  office,  which  is  at  the  house  of  one  Pierpont,  is  about 
eight  miles  along  the  dividing  ridge.  .  .  .  Pursuing  my  inquiries 
respecting  the  navigation  of  the  Western  waters,  Captain  Hanway 
proposed,  if  I  would  stay  all  night,  to  send  to  Monongahela 
[Monongalia]  court-house  at  Morgantown  for  Colonel  Zach. 
Morgan  and  others  who  would  have  it  in  their  power  to  give 
the  best  accounts  that  were  to  be  obtained,  which  assenting  to, 
they  were  sent  for  and  came,  and  from  them  I  received  the 
following  intelligence,  viz.,"  &c. 

No  mention  is  made  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  nor  indeed  of  any  others 
besides  Colonel  Morgan,  from  whom  the  information  was  de- 
rived ;  but  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  this  was  the  occasion 
of  the  meeting.  The  only  possible  importance  of  this  district 
of  country,  in  which  both  Washington  and  Gallatin  had  at  times 
large  interests,  was  derived  from  the  fact  that  it  lay  between  the 
head-waters  of  the  Potomac  and  the  nearest  navigable  branches 
of  the  Ohio.1  The  reason  why  Gallatin  and  Savary  selected 
George's  Creek  for  their  base  of  operations  was  that  in  their 
opinion  they  thus  held  in  their  hands  the  best  practicable  con- 
nection between  the  Ohio  and  the  Potomac  which  was  their 
path  to  Richmond  and  a  market.  Probably  this  subject  had 
engaged  much  of  Gallatin's  attention  during  a  good  part  of  this 
summer,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  had  already  arrived,  from 
his  own  study,  at  the  conclusion  which  he  found  Washington  so 
slow  to  adopt. 

The  following  winter  was  also  passed  in  Richmond,  where 
Savary  ultimately  built  a  brick  house,  long  remembered  for  its 
tall,  round  chimneys.  Gallatin  was  now  established  here  so 
firmly  that  he  regarded  himself  as  a  Virginian,  and  seems  to 
have  been  regarded  as  such  by  his  acquaintances,  as  the  following 
paper  testifies : 

"  The  bearer  hereof,  Mr.  Albert  Gallatine,  is  going  from  this 
place  to  Greenbriar  County,  and  from  thence  towards  Monon- 
galia and  the  County s  northwestward.  His  business  is  with  the 
surveyors  of  some  of  these  Countys,  particularly  with  him  of 

1  See  map,  p.  126. 


60  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1784. 

Greenbriar.  And  I  do  request  that  from  him  in  particular,  as 
well  as  from  all  others,  he  may  meet  with  particular  attention 
and  respect. 

"  I  feel  it  my  duty  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  give  every  possible 
facility  to  this  gentleman,  because  his  personal  character,  as  well 
as  his  present  designs,  entitle  him  to  the  most  cordial  regards. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  at  Richmond  this  25th  March,  1785. 

"P.  HENKY." 

Governor  Henry  also  intrusted  Gallatin  with  the  duty  of 
locating  two  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  Western  country 
for  Colonel  James  Le  Maire,  or  of  completing  the  title  if  the 
land  were  already  located.  This  commission  is  dated  March  29. 
On  the  30th,  Gallatin  wrote  to  Badollet  a  letter,  of  which  the 
following  extract  is  all  that  has  interest  here.  He  at  length  tells 
Badollet  to  come  over  at  once.  His  own  position  is  sufficiently 
secure  to  warrant  a  decisive  step  of  this  kind.  The  next  day 
began  his  second  expedition  to  the  West. 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

RICHMOND  (EN  YIRQINIE),  ce  30  mars,  1785. 

Mon  bon  ami,  j'esp£re  que  tu  as  re9u  la  lettre  que  je  t'ai  e"crite 
de  Philadelphie  en  de"cembre  dernier  par  laquelle  je  t'annonpais 
la  reception  de  la  tienne  du  9e  avril,  1784,  et  par  laquelle  je  te 
renvoyais  &  ma  premiere  pour  de  plus  grands  details  sur  ce  qui  me 
regardait.  C'est  avec  le  plus  grand  plaisir  que  je  puis  enfin  te 
dire  de  partir  par  la  premiere  occasion  pour  venir  me  joindre ;  ce 
n'est  qu'apr£s  m'e'tre  longtems  consult^  que  j'ai  pris  ce  parti,  ayant 
toujours  craint  de  te  faire  sacrifier  un  bien-£tre  re"el  a  des  avan- 
tages  incertains.  Cependant,  conside"rant  ma  position  actuelle  et 
voyant  par  tes  lettres  que  ton  attachement  pour  moi  et  ton  gout 
pour  la  retraite  sont  toujours  les  meTnes,  je  crois  que  je  puis  ac- 
corder  mon  amitiS  et  ton  bonheur ;  du  reste,  voici  Fe"tat  exact  oil 
je  suis,  tu  jugeras  par  la  s'il  te  convient  de  venir  le  partager. 

J'ai  fait  connaissance  avec  M.  Savary  de  Lyon,  homme  d'un 
rare  me'rite,  et  dont  le  coeur  vaut  mieux  que  Fesprit ;  apres  Favoir 
aide  pendant  quelque  terns  a  suivre  ses  aifaires,  il  m'a  inte'resse' 


1785.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  61 

d'abord  pour  un  quart  et  ensuite  pour  une  moiti6  dans  une  sp6cu- 
lation  de  terres  dans  Fe"tat  de  Virginie.  Sans  entrer  dans  tons 
les  details  de  cette  affaire,  dont  la  rSussite  est  due  en  partie  a  mes 
soins  pendant  le  voyage  que  j'ai  fait  I'Ste"  dernier  dans  les  der- 
rieres  de  la  Virginie,  il  te  suffira  de  savoir  que  nous  possSdons 
actuellement  plus  *de  cent  mille  acres  de  terre  sur  les  bords  ou 
pres  de  FOhio,  250  milles  par  eau  au-dessous  du  Fort  Pitt,  autre- 
fois  Fort  Duquesne,  a  350  milles  de  Philadelphie  et  environ  300 
de  Baltimore.  Elles  sont  situ6es  entre  le  grand  et  le  petit  Kan- 
hawa  (ou  Canhaway,  ou  Camvay),  deux  rivieres  qui  se  jettent 
dans  FOhio.  C'est  un  pays  montueux,  tr£s-coupe,  mais  fertile, 
propre  surtout  a  la  culture  du  bled  et  &  Clever  du  bStail.  J'ai 
fait  arpenter  presque  toutes  ces  terres  Fannee  derniere ;  je  pars  de- 
main  pour  aller  finir  cet  ouvrage  et  pour  mener  quelques  families 
afin  de  commencer  un  etablissement.  Nous  avons  au  reste  re- 
vendu  quelques  petites  portions  qui  nous  ont  rembourse"  les  trois 
quarts  des  premieres  avances.  .  .  . 

During  this  summer  Gallatin  kept  a  brief  diary,  so  that  it  is 
possible  to  follow  all  his  movements.  Leaving  Richmond  on  the 
31st  of  March,  alone,  on  horseback,  he  ascended  James  River, 
crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  near  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  and  arrived  at  the 
Court-House  of  Greenbrier  County  on  the  18th  April.  Having 
seen  the  surveyor  and  attended  to  his  locations  of  land,  he  started 
northwards  on  the  21st,  and  on  the  29th  reached  his  headquarters 
at  Clare's  on  George's  Creek.  Here  Savary  joined  him,  and 
after  making  their  preparations  they  set  off  on  the  26th  May, 
and  descended  the  Ohio  with  their  surveying  party  to  the  mouth 
of  Little  Sandy  Creek,  where  from  June  3  to  July  1  they  were 
engaged  in  surveying,  varied  by  building  a  log  cabin,  clearing 
land,  and  occasionally  killing  a  bear  or  a  buffalo.  On  the 
1st  July,  Gallatin,  leaving  Savary  and  four  men  at  "  Friends' 
Landing"  to  carry  on  the  work,  set  off  by  water  for  the  Grand 
Kanawha,  and  surveyed  country  about  the  head-waters  of  the 
Big  Sandy  and  between  the  Elk  and  the  Pocotaligo.  On  August 
13  he  descended  the  Pocotaligo,  and  on  the  15th,  striking  across 
country  to  the  southward,  he  reached  "Meeting  Camp,"  on 
the  Elk,  and  received  letters  from  Savary  announcing  that  the 


62  LIFE     OP    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1785. 

Indians  had  broken  up  his  operations  on  the  Ohio  and  com- 
pelled him  to  abandon  the  cabin  and  clearing. 

This  Indian  outbreak  deranged  all  their  plans.  It  had 
been  their  intention  to  settle  on  these  lands  between  the  two 
Kanawhas,  and  for  this  purpose  they  had  engaged  men,  built 
the  log  cabin,  and  cleared  several  acres  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio  adjoining  the  lands  located  by  General  Washington  and 
known  as  "  Washington's  Bottom."  They  themselves,  it  is 
true,  were  not  directly  molested  by  the  Indians,  but  boats  had 
been  captured  and  emigrants  murdered  a  few  miles  from  their 
settlement.  They  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  plan  and  to 
return  to  Clare's.  This  wild  attempt  to  make  his  home  in  an 
utter  solitude  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  beyond  the  last 
house  then  inhabited  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  was  obviously 
impracticable  even  to  Gallatin's  mind,  without  incurring  im- 
minent danger  of  massacre. 

The  friends  returned  to  George's  Creek.  It  was  then,  at  the 
October  court  of  Monongalia  County,  Virginia,  according  to  the 
record,  that  Gallatin  at  last  "  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and 
fidelity  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia."  He  had  long  con- 
sidered himself  an  American  citizen ;  this  act  merely  fixed  the 
place  of  citizenship.  By  the  laws  of  his  native  country  he  was 
still  a  minor.  He  was  actually  residing  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
old  Confederation  was  still  the  only  national  government.  Vir- 
ginia was  the  State  to  which  he  was  attached,  and  of  Virginia  he 
wished  to  be  considered  a  citizen,  so  that  even  a  year  later  he 
signed  himself  in  legal  documents  "  of  Monongalia  County, 
Virginia."  He  had  fully  determined  to  remain  in  the  Western 
country,  and  he  chose  Monongalia  County  because  his  lands  lay 
there ;  but  the  neighboring  Pennsylvania  county  of  Fayette  was 
both  by  situation  and  resources  a  more  convenient  residence,  and 
even  so  early  as  1784,  as  has  already  been  shown,  Savary  and  he 
had  established  a  store  and  made  their  base  of  operations  in 
Fayette  County.  In  November  of  this  year  1785  they  leased 
from  Thomas  Clare  for  five  years  a  house  and  five  acres  of  land 
at  George's  Creek,  in  Springhill  Township,  on  the  Monongahela : 
here  they  made  their  temporary  residence,  transferring  their  store 
to  it,  and  placing  in  it  several  men  who  had  been  engaged  as 


1785.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  63 

settlers  and  had  remained  in  their  service.  After  the  joint  estab- 
lishment had  been  carried  on  for  two  or  three  years,  Gallatin 
bought  a  farm  of  four  hundred  acres  about  a  mile  higher  up 
the  river,  to  which  he  transferred  the  establishment,  and  which 
ultimately  became  his  residence,  under  the  name  of  Friendship 
Hill,  perhaps  to  commemorate  the  friendship  of  Serre,  Savary, 
and  Badollet. 

This  then  was  the  promised  land,  the  "  fond  de  terre"  which 
poor  Serre  had  described,  and  to  which  Badollet  was  now  on 
his  way.  In  point  of  fact  it  suggested  Switzerland.  No  better 
spot  could' have  been  found  in  the  United  States  for  men  who  had 
passed  their  youth  by  the  shore  of  Lake  Geneva,  overlooked  by 
the  snow  summit  of  Mont  Blanc.  Friendship  Hill  rises  ab- 
ruptly from  the  Monongahela,  and  looks  eastward  to  the  Laurel 
Ridge,  picturesque  as  Serre  could  have  imagined,  remote  as 
Rousseau  could  have  wished.  But  as  a  place  of  permanent  resi- 
dence for  men  who  were  to  earn  their  living  according  to  the 
Genevan  theory,  it  had  one  disadvantage  which  is  pointedly  de- 
scribed by  Gallatin  himself  in  a  letter  to  Badollet,  written  about 
half  a  century  afterwards.1  t(  Although  I  should  have  been  con- 
tented to  live  and  die  amongst  the  Monongahela  hills,  it  must 
be  acknowledged  that,  beyond  the  invaluable  advantage  of  health, 
they  afforded  either  to  you  or  me  but  few  intellectual  or  physical 
resources.  Indeed,  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  know  in  the  United 
States  any  spot  which  afforded  less  means  to  earn  a  bare  subsist- 
ence for  those  who  could  not  live  by  manual  labor  than  the 
sequestered  corner  in  which  accident  had  first  placed  us." 

Thus  much  accomplished,  Gallatin  and  Savary  left  George's 
Creek  on  the  22d  November,  making  their  way  to  Cumber- 
land on  the  Potomac,  and  so  down  the  river  to  Richmond. 
But  in  the  following  February  he  again  returned  to  George's 
Creek,  and  there  he  kept  house  for  the  future,  having  never  less 
than  six  persons  and  afterwards  many  more  in  his  family.  Here 
Badollet  now  came,  in  obedience  to  his  friend's  wishes.  "With 
him  Gallatin  buried  himself  in  the  wilderness,  and  his  family 
entreated  for  letters  in  vain. 

1  See  "below,  p.  646. 


64  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1785. 


ABRAHAM  GALLATIN  TO  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 

PREGNY,  ce  20  juin,  1785. 

Quand  une  correspond  ance,  mon  cher  fils,  est  aussi  mal  Stabile 
que  la  notre,  on  ne  salt  par  oft  commencer.  Je  t'ai  e*erit  quelques 
lettres  dont  j 'ignore  le  sort ;  j'en  ai  re9u  une  de  toi,  il  y  a  deux 
ou  trois  ans;  si  la  date  en  e"tait  exacte,  elle  me  fut  rendue  ici 
dans  trente  jours  .  .  .  d'ou  je  conclus  que  nous  e"tions  assez 
voisins  et  qu'il  ne  tenait  qu'a  toi  de  nous  donner  plus  souvent 
de  tes  nouvelles.  Nous  n'en  avons  eu  que  bien  peu  et  la  plupart 
indirectes.  Mais  enfin  je  ne  te  fais  point  de  reproches ;  je  sais 
que  les  jeunes  gens  s'occupent  rareraent  de  leurs  vieux  parents  et 
que  d'ailleurs  j'ai  cru  entrevoir  que  tes  occupations  et  tes  divers 
de"placements  ont  du  avoir  de  longs  momens  inquie"tans  et  peni- 
bles.  II  y  a  quelques  mois  qu'un  Mr.  Jennings  qui  a  e"te"  ton  ami 
et  qui  est  parti  pour  File  de  Grenade,  e"crivit  a  Mile.  Pictet  de 
Baltimore  le  28e  fevrier  qu'il  avait  e"te  a  Philadelphie  ou  il  avait 
compte*  de  te  trouver,  mais  que  malheureusement  pour  lui  tu  en 
e*tais  parti  pour  une  province  a  3  ou  400  lieues  de  la  pour  y 
faire  arpenter  un  trSs-grand  terrain  inculte  que  tu  avais  achete"  a 
vil  prix.  II  ajoutait  ensuite  que  s'etant  informe  exactement  de 
diverses  personnes  qui  te  connaissent,  on  avait  fait  de  toi  un  tres- 
bon  rapport  sur  Pestime  et  le  credit  que  tu  y  avais  acquis.  .  .  . 
Tu  n'as  pas  oubli4  sans  doute  que  tu  seras  majeuf  dans  le  courant 
du  mois  de  Janvier  prochain,  1786.  .  .  . 

MLLE.  PICTET   TO    GALLATIN. 

22  juillet,  1785. 

Enfin  j'ai  re9U  ta  lettre  du  29e  mars.  .  .  .  J'ai  peine  a  excuser 
ce  long  silence ;  je  ne  saurais  me'me  prendre  pour  bonnes  les  rai- 
sons  que  tu  en  donnes;  il  me  parait  plus  vraisemblable  que 
Famour-propre  t'emp£che  d'ecrire  lorsque  tu  n'as  rien  a  dire 
d'avantageux  de  ta  situation.  .  .  .  Je  me  flatte  que  M.  Savari  a 
un  m^rite  plus  sur  que  Serre  et  Badollet.  Quant  a  Serre,  je 
comprends  qu'il  y  a  quelques  nuages  entre  vous.  .  .  .  Son  gout 
sera  toujours  de  courir  des  aventures.  .  .  . 


1786.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  65 

ANNE   GALLATIN   TO   ALBERT   GALLATIN. 

6  mars,  1786. 

Monsieur, — Je  ne  puis  imaginer  que  vous  soyez  instruit  que 
le  bruit  de  votre  mort  est  parvenu  jusqu'd,  Geneve  comme  la 
chose  du  monde  la  plus  certaine  et  que  vous  ne  vous  soyez  pas 
hate"  de  le  d6truire  par  vos  lettres.  .  .  . 

MLLE.  PICTET   TO   GALLATIN. 

1  octobre,  1787. 

.  .  .  Monsieur  Chaston  .  .  .  m'a  parle"  de  toi ;  .  .  .  il  m'a  dit 
que  tu  avais  conserve"  ton  ancienne  indolence ;  que  tu  te  souciais 
peu  du  monde,  et  que  lorsque  tu  avais  demeure"  chez  lui  a  Phila- 
delphie  il  ne  pouvait  t'engager  &  voir  le  monde  ni  a  t'habiller. 
II  dit  que  tu  aimes  toujours  F4tude  et  la  lecture.  Voila  des 
gouts  qui  ne  paraissent  pas  s'accorder  avec  tes  grandes  entreprises 
et  pour  lesquels  une  grande  fortune  est  bien  inutile,  que  tu  aurais 
pu  suivre  sans  quitter  ton  pays.  .  .  . 

So  widely  accredited  was  the  rumor  of  his  death  that  his  family 
in  Geneva  made  an  application  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  the  United 
States  minister  at  Paris,  through  the  Genevan  minister  at  that 
Court,  who  was  a  connection  of  the  Gallatin  family;  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  on  the  27th  January,  1786,  wrote  to  Mr.  Jay  on  the 
subject  a  letter  which  will  be  found  in  his  printed  works.  Mr. 
Jay  replied  on  the  16th  June,  reassuring  the  family;  but  in  the 
mean  while  letters  had  arrived  from  Gallatin  himself.  There 
were  indeed  other  reasons  than  mere  family  affection  which  made 
correspondence  at  this  moment  peculiarly  necessary.  Gallatin 
reached  his  twenty-fifth  year  on  the  29th  January,  when  his  little 
patrimony  became  his  own  to  dispose  of  at  his  will ;  and  without 
attributing  to  him  an  inordinate  amount  of  self-interest,  it  would 
seem  that  he  must  certainly  have  been  heard  from  at  this  time  if 
at  no  other,  seeing  that  he  was  pledged  to  undertakings  which 
had  been  entered  into  on  the  strength  of  this  expected  capital. 
The  family  were  not  left  long  in  doubt.  Letters  and  drafts  soon 
arrived,  and  Gallatin  duly  received  through  the  firm  of  Kobert 

5 


(J6  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1787. 

Morris  about  five  thousand  dollars, — the  greatest  part  of  his 
patrimony  and  all  that  could  at  once  be  remitted.  This  was 
the  only  capital  he  could  as  yet  command  or  call  his  own.  What 
he  might  further  inherit  was  highly  uncertain,  and  he  seems  to 
have  taken  unnecessary  pains  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  court- 
ing a  bequest.  His  grandfather's  letter,  just  given,  shows  how 
little  there  was  of  the  mercenary  in  the  young  man's  relations 
with  the  wealthier  members  of  his  family,  from  whom  he  might 
originally  have  hoped,  and  in  fact  had  reason  to  expect,  an 
ultimate  inheritance.  In  the  course  of  time  this  expectation  was 
realized.  He  was  left  heir  to  the  estates  of  both  his  grandfather 
and  his  uncle,  but  the  inheritance  proved  to  be  principally  one 
of  debts.  After  these  had  been  discharged  there  remained  of  a 
fortune  which  should  properly  have  exceeded  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  only  a  sum  of  about  twenty  thousand  dollars,  which 
he  practically  sunk  in  Western  lands  and  houses.  But  as  yet  his 
hopes  from  such  investments  were  high,  and  he  had  no  reason  to 
be  ashamed  of  his  position. 

Nevertheless,  he  was  not  yet  quite  firmly  established  in  his 
American  life.  His  existence  at  George's  Creek  was  not  all  that 
imagination  could  paint;  perhaps  not  all  it  once  had  painted. 
The  business  of  store-keeping  and  land-clearing  in  a  remote 
mountain  valley  had  drawbacks  which  even  the  arrival  of  Badol- 
let  could  not  wholly  compensate ;  and  finally  the  death  of  Serre, 
learned  only  in  the  summer  of  1786,  was  a  severe  blow,  which 
made  Gallatin's  mind  for  a  time  turn  sadly  away  from  its  occu- 
pations and  again  long  for  the  sympathy  and  associations  of  the 
home  they  had  both  so  contemptuously  deserted. 

There  was  indeed  little  at  this  time  of  his  life,  between  1786 
and  1788,  which  could  have  been  greatly  enjoyable  to  him,  or 
which  can  be  entertaining  to  describe,  in  long  residences  at 
George's  Creek,  varied  by  journeys  to  Richmond,  Philadelphia, 
and  New  York,  land  purchases  and  land  sales,  the  one  as  un- 
productive as  the  other,  house-building,  store-keeping,  incessant 
daily  attention  to  the  joint  interests  of  the  association  while  it 
lasted,  endless  trials  of  temper  and  patience  in  dealing  with  his 
associates,  details  of  every  description,  since  nothing  could  be 
trusted  to  others,  and  no  pleasures  that  even  to  a  mind  naturally 


1787.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  67 

disposed,  like  his,  to  contentment  under  narrow  circumstances, 
could  compensate  for  its  sacrifices. 

In  point  of  fact,  too,  nothing  was  gained  by  thus  insisting 
upon  taking  life  awry  and  throwing  away  the  advantages  of 
education,  social  position,  and  natural  intelligence.  All  the 
elaborate  calculations  of  fortune  to  result  from  purchases  of 
land  in  Western  Virginia  were  miscalculations.  Forty  years 
later,  after  Mr.  Gallatin  had  made  over  to  his  sons  all  his  West- 
ern lands,  he  summed  up  the  result  of  his  operations  in  a  very 
few  words :  "  It  is  a  troublesome  and  unproductive  property, 
which  has  plagued  me  all  my  life.  I  could  not  have  vested 
my  patrimony  in  a  more  unprofitable  manner."  It  is,  too,  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  he  was  essentially  aided  even  in  his 
political  career  by  coming  to  a  border  settlement.  There  have 
been  in  American  history  three  parallel  instances  of  young  men 
coming  to  this  country  from  abroad  and  under  great  disadvan- 
tages achieving  political  distinction  which  culminated  in  the 
administration  of  the  national  Treasury.  These  were,  in  the 
order  of  seniority,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Albert  Gallatin,  and 
A.  J.  Dallas,  the  latter  of  whom  came  to  America  in  1783  and 
was  Gallatin's  most  intimate  political  friend  and  associate. 
Neither  Hamilton  nor  Dallas  found  it  necessary  or  advisable 
to  retire  into  the  wilderness,  and  political  distinctions  were  con- 
ferred upon  them  quite  as  rapidly  as  was  for  their  advantage. 
The  truth  is  that  in  those  days,  except  perhaps  in  New  England, 
the  eastern  counties  of  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  there  was  a 
serious  want  of  men  who  possessed  in  any  degree  the  rudimentary 
qualifications  for  political  life.  Even  the  press  in  the  Middle 
States  was  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of  foreign-born  citizens. 
Had  Gallatin  gone  at  once  to.  New  York  or  Philadelphia  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  law,  for  which  he  was  admirably  fitted  by 
nature,  had  he  invested  his  little  patrimony  in  a  city  house,  in 
public  securities,  in  almost  any  property  near  at  hand  and  easily 
convertible,  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  he  would  have 
been,  financially  and  politically,  in  a  better  position  than  ever 
was  the  case  in  fact.  In  following  this  course  he  would  have 
had  the  advantage  of  treading  the  path  which  suited  his  true 
tastes  and  needs.  This  is  proved  by  the  whole  experience  of 


68  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1788. 

his  life.  In  spite  of  himself,  he  was  always  more  and  more 
drawn  back  to  the  seaboard,  until  at  length  he  gave  up  the 
struggle  and  became  a  resident  of  New  York  in  fact,  as  he  had 
long  been  in  all  essentials. 

The  time  was,  however,  at  hand  in  these  years  from  1786  to 
1788  when,  under  the  political  activity  roused  by  the  creation 
of  a  new  Constitution  and  the  necessity  of  setting  it  in  motion, 
a  new  generation  of  public  men  was  called  into  being.  The 
constitutional  convention  sat  during  the  summer  of  1787.  The 
Pennsylvania  convention,  which  ratified  the  Constitution,  sat 
shortly  afterwards  in  the  same  year.  Their  proceedings  were  of 
a  nature  to  interest  Gallatin  deeply,  as  may  be  easily  seen  from 
the  character  of  the  letters  already  given.  His  first  appearance 
in  political  life  naturally  followed  and  was  immediately  caused 
by  the  great  constitutional  controversy  thus  raised. 

But  before  beginning  upon  the  course  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  politi- 
cal and  public  career,  which  is  to  be  best  treated  by  itself  and  is 
the  main  object  of  this  work,  the  story  of  his  private  life  shall 
be  carried  a  few  steps  further  to  a  convenient  halting-point. 

In  the  winter  of  1787—88,  according  to  a  brief  diary,  he  made 
a  rapid  journey  to  Maine  on  business.  He  was  at  George's 
Creek  a  few  days  before  Christmas.  On  Christmas-day  occurs 
the  following  entry  at  Pittsburg :  "  Fait  Noel  avec  Odrin  (?)  et 
Breckenridge  chez  Marie. "  Who  these  three  persons  were  is 
not  clear.  Apparently,  the  Breckenridge  mentioned  was  not 
Judge  H.  H.  Brackenridge,  who,  in  his  "  Incidents  of  the  In- 
surrection," or  whiskey  rebellion,  declares  that  his  first  conver- 
sation with  Gallatin  was  in  August,  1794.  Marie  was  not  a 
woman,  but  a  Genevan  emigrant. 

January  5,  1788,  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained 
till  the  28th.  On  the  29th,  his  birthday,  he  was  at  Paulus 
Hook,  now  Jersey  City.  On  the  2d  February  occurs  the  fol- 
lowing entry  at  Hartford:  "Depuis  que  je  suis  dans  1'gtat  de 
Connecticut,  j'ai  toujours  voyage  avec  des  champs  des  deux 
c6t£s,  et  je  n'ai  rien  vu  en  Ame'rique  d'e"gal  aux  Stablissements 
sur  la  riviere  Connecticut."  On  the  6th :  "  Dejeune  a  Shrews- 
bury. Souvenirs  en  voyant  Wachusett  Hill.  .  .  .  CouchS  a 
Boston."  On  the  llth  of  February  he  started  again  for  the 


1789.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  69 

East  by  the  stage :  "  Voyage"  avec  Dr.  Daniel  Kilham  de  New- 
bury  Port,  oppose"  a  la  Constitution.  Vu  mon  bon  ami  Bentley 
a  Salem ;  il  me  croyait  mort.  Dine"  a  Ipswich  avec  mes  anciens 
Scoliers  Amory  et  Stacey."  On  the  14th :  "  Loue"  Hailey  et  un 
slay;  descendu  sur  la  glace  partie  d'Amoruscoguin  [Androscoggin] 
River  et  Merrymeeting  Bay,  et  traverse"  Kennebeck,  aborde"  a 
Woolwich,  travers^  un  Neck,  puis  sur  la  glace  une  cove  de 
Kennebeck,  et  alle"  par  terre  &  Wiscasset  Point  sur  Sheepscutt 
River."  Apparently  at  this  time  of  his  life  Gallatin  was  proof 
against  hardship  and  fatigue.  In  returning  he  again  crossed  the 
bay  and  ascended  the  Androscoggin  on  the  ice :  "  Tout  le  jour 
il  a  neige" ;  voyage"  sur  la  glace  sans  voir  le  rivage ;  gouverne" 
notre  course  par  la  direction  du  vent."  His  return  was  much 
retarded  by  snow,  but  he  was  again  in  Boston  on  the  27th,  and 
in  New  York  on  the  5th  of  March. 

He  passed  the  summer,  apparently,  in  the  West  at  his 
George's  Creek  settlement,  at  least  partially  engaged  in  politics, 
as  will  be  shown  hereafter.  He  passed  also  the  winter  here,  and 
it  was  not  till  the  12th  March,  1789,  that  he  set  out  on  his  usual 
visit  to  Richmond,  which  he  reached  on  the  1st  April. 

The  following  letter  shows  him  occupied  with  a  new  interest. 
Sophia  Allegre  was  the  daughter  of  William  Allegre,  of  a 
French  Protestant  family  among  the  early  settlers  in  this  coun- 
try. William  Allegre  married  Jane  Batersby,  and  died  early, 
leaving  his  widow  with  two  daughters  and  a  son.  A  young 
Frenchman,  Louis  Pauly,  who  came  to  Virginia  on  some  finan- 
cial errand  of  his  government,  took  lodgings  with  Mrs.  Allegre, 
fell  in  love  with  her  daughter  Jane,  and  married  her  against  her 
mother's  consent.  Young  Gallatin  also  lodged  under  Mrs. 
Allegre's  roof,  and  fell  in  love  with  her  other  daughter,  Sophia. 

GALLATIN   TO  BADOLLET. 

KICHMOND,  4  mai,  1789. 

Mon  bon  ami,  je  suis  arrive"  ici  le  ler  avril  et  ai  e"te"  jusques 
a  present  si  occupe"  de  mes  amours  que  je  n'ai  eu  la  t£te  &  rien 
d'autre.  Sophie  e"tait  chez  son  beau-fr&re  Pauli  &  New  Kent. 
J'y  ai  passe"  plus  de  15  jours  a  deux  fois  difF6rentes.  Elle  n'a 


70  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1789 

point  fait  la  coquette  avec  moi,  mais  des  le  second  jour  m'a 
donne"  son  plein  consentement,  m'a  avoue  qu'elle  me  Faurait 
donn6  a  mon  dernier  voyage  ou  peut-etre  plus  tot  si  je  le  lui  avais 
demand^ ;  avait  toujours  cru  que  je  Faimais,  mais  avait  e"t6  sur- 
prise de  n'avoir  pas  entendu  parler  de  moi  pendant  plus  d'un 
an,  ce  qui  avait  cause"  sa  re"ponse  a  Savary  que  tu  m'apportas; 
n'avait  pas  voulu  s'ouvrir  depuis  &  Savary  parceque  n'ayant  pas 
repondu  a  ma  lettre,  elle  avait  peur  que  je  n'eusse  change"  et  ne 
voulait  pas  s'aventurer  a  faire  une  confidence  inutile.  Voil&  le 
bien ;  voici  le  mal.  La  mere,  qui  s'est  bien  dout6e  que  je  n'etais 
pas  h  New  Kent  pour  Famour  de  Pauly,  a  ordonnS  a  sa  fille  de 
revenir,  et  je  Fai  en  eifet  amende  a  Richmond.  Je  lui  ai  alors 
demande  Sophie.  Elle  a  6te"  furieuse,  m'a  refus6  de  la  mani£re 
la  plus  brutale  et  m'a  presque  interdite  sa  maison.  Elle  ne  veut 
point  que  sa  fille  soit  trainee  sur  les  frontieres  de  la  Pensilvanie 
par  un  homme  sans  agre"mens,  sans  fortune,  qui  bredouille  FAn- 
glais  comme  un  Frangais  et  qui  a  6t6  maitre  d'^cole  a  Cambridge. 
J'ai  ri  de  la  plupart  de  ses  objections,  j'ai  tache"  de  rSpondre  aux 
autres,  mais  je  n'ai  point  pu  lui  faire  entendre  raison  et  elle 
vient  d'envoyer  Sophie  en  campagne  chez  un  de  ses  amis.  C'est 
une  diablesse  que  sa  fille  craint  horriblement,-  en  sorte  que  j'aurai 
de  la  peine  &  lui  persuader  de  se  passer  du  consentement  ma- 
ternel.  Je  crois  pourtant  que  je  reussirai,  et  c'est  a  quoi  je  vais 
travailler  malgr^  la  difficult^  que  j'eprouve  a  la  voir  et  a  lui 
parler.  Des  que  cette  affaire  sera  decidee,  je  'penserai  a  celles 
d'int^r^t.  Je  suis  encore  plus  decide"  que  jamais  a  tout  terminer 
avec  Savary,  dont  la  conduite  pendant  mon  absence  a  6t6  presqu' 
extravagante.  Mais  motus  sur  cet  article.  J'ai  vu  ici  Perrin,  qui 
vient  de  repartir  pour  France,  Savary  ayant  paye"  son  passage. 
II  a  soutenu  jusques  au  bout  son  digne  caractere,  ayant  dit  & 
Mme.  Allegre  tout  le  mal  possible  de  la  Monongahela,  tandis 
qu'il  savait  par  une  lettre  volee  que  j'aimais  sa  fille,  et  ayant  fini 
par  mentir  et  tromper  Savary  qui  est  bien  revenu  sur  son  compte. 
Tout  le  monde  ici  m'en  a  dit  du  mal. 

Je  crois  que  vu  tout  ce  que  j'ai  a  faire  ici  je  ne  pourrai  gu5re 
partir  avant  le  mois  prochain.  Si  je  me  marie,  ce  sera  dans 
environ  15  jours,  et  il  faudra  ensuite  que  je  prenne  des  arrange- 
mens  avec  Savary  (quand  je  taxe  sa  conduite  d'extravagante,  ce 


1789.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  71 

n'est  que  sa  tete  que  je  blame ;  son  coeur  est  toujours  excellent 
mais  trop  facile  et  il  lui  fait  souvent  faire  des  sottises) ;  ainsi  tu 
ne  dois  m'attendre  qu'au  milieu  de  juin.  Tache  de  faire  planter 
bien  abondamment  des  patates,  afin  qu'il  y  en  ait  pour  toi  et  pour 
moi.  J'aurais  bien  a  coaur  que  la  maison  se  finit,  mais  si  tu  ne 
veux  pas  t'en  meler,  fais-moi  le  plaisir  de  prier  Clare  de  pousser 
Weibel.  Je  ne  te  parle  point  de  nos  arrangemens  futurs,  parceque 
je  n'y  vois  encore  rien  de  clair  et  qu'il  faut  que  pre"alablement  je 
finisse  avec  Savary.  Rien  de  nouveau  ici.  Tu  auras  sans  doute 
su  que  le  roi  d'Angleterre  e"tait  devenu  fou  et  que  le  Prince  de 
Galles  avait  e"t6  nomm6  Regent.  Par  les  dernieres  nouvelles  il 
est  r6tabli  et  va  reprendre  les  re"nes  du  gouvernement,  &  la  grande 
satisfaction  de  la  nation,  qui  avec  raison  preTere  Pitt  &  Fox.  II 
y  a  apparence  que  la  guerre  continuera  en  Europe  et  que  la 
Prusse  prendra  ouvertement  le  parti  de  la  Suede  centre  le  Dane- 
mark.  Embrasse  Peggy  pour  moi;  je  pense  souvent  a  elle  et 
apres  ne  1'avoir  aime'e  pendant  longtems  que  par  rapport  a  toi,  je 
commence  a  Faimer  pour  elle-me'me.  Je  compte  trouver  Albert 
sur  ses  jambes  si  je  reste  aussi  longtems  ici.  Fais  mes  compli- 
mens  a  Clare  et  a  la  famille  Philips.  Dis  a  Pauly  que  son  frere 
se  porte  bien  a  un  rhumatisme  pr£s;  son  frere  Joseph  va  re- 
venir  pour  le  joindre  et  prendre  la  tann-yard  que  Maesh  quittera. 
Mine.  Pauly,  la  so3ur  de  Sophie,  m'a  aid6  autant  qu'elle  a  pu 
aupres  de  sa  mere,  mais  elle  dissuade  sa  soeur  d'un  mariage 
contre  son  consentement.  Au  reste,  la  mere  dit  &  tout  le  monde 
qu'elle  voit  autant  de  mal  qu'elle  peut  de  moi  et  se  fait  par  M 
plus  de  tort  qu'a  moi-meine.  Adieu,  mon  bon  ami ;  je  pense  & 
toi  tout  le  terns  que  je  ne  suis  pas  occupS  de  Sophie;  j'esp£re  que 
lorsque  nous  ne  serons  plus  lie's  a  un  tiers,  nos  jours  seront  encore 
heureux.  Crois  mon  pronostic  et  ne  perds  pas  courage.  Tout 
a  toi. 

The  records  of  Henrico  County  Court  contain  the  marriage 
bond,  dated  May  14,  1789,  declaring  that  "  We,  Albert  Gallatin 
and  Savary  de  Yalcoulon,  are  held  and  firmly  bound  unto  Bev- 
erly Randolph,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
in  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds,  current  money,"  the  condition  being 
"a  marriage  shortly  to  be  solemnized  between  the  above-bound 


72  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  AT  IN.  1789. 

Albert  Gallatin  and  Sophia  Allegre."  In  a  little  account-book 
of  that  date  are  some  significant  entries :  "  Ruban  de  queue, 
Y6.  Veste  blanche  JJ/.  Tailleur,  £2.16.  Souliers  de  satin,  gants, 
bague,  £1.11.6.  License,  ministre,  £4.4.  Perruquier,  negre, 
£0.2.0."  Finally,  many  years  afterwards,  the  following  letter 
was  printed  as  a  historical  curiosity  in  "  The  Staunton  Vindi- 
cator" : 

SOPHIA  ALLEGEE   TO  HER   MOTHER. 

NEW  KENT,  May  16,  1789. 

MY  DEAR  MAMA, — Shall  I  venture  to  write  you  a  few  lines 
in  apology  for  my  late  conduct  ?  and  dare  I  flatter  myself  that 
you  will  attend  to  them  ?  If  so,  and  you  can  feel  a  motherly 
tenderness  for  your  child  who  never  before  wilfully  offended 
you,  forgive,  dear  mother,  and  generously  accept  again  your 
poor  Sophia,  who  feels  for  the  uneasiness  she  is  sure  she  has 
occasioned  you.  She  deceived  you,  but  it  was  for  her  own 
happiness.  Could  you  then  form  a  wish  to  destroy  the  future 
peace  of  your  child  and  prevent  her  being  united  to  the  man  of 
her  choice  ?  He  is  perhaps  not  a  very  handsome  man,  but  he 
is  possessed  of  more  essential  qualities,  which  I  shall  not  pretend 
to  enumerate ;  as  coming  from  me,  they  might  be  supposed  par- 
tial. If,  mama,  your  heart  is  inclinable  to  forgive,  or  if  it  is 
not,  let  me  beg  you  to  write  to  me,  as  my  only  anxiety  is  to 
know  whether  I  have  lost  your  affection  or  not.  Forgive  me, 
dear  mama,  as  it  is  all  that  is  wanting  to  complete  the  happiness 
of  her  who  wishes  for  your  happiness  and  desires  to  be  considered 
again  your  dutiful  daughter, 

SOPHIA. 

No  trace  of  Sophia  Allegre  now  remains  except  this  letter  and 
a  nameless  gravestone  within  the  grounds  of  Friendship  Hill. 
Gallatin  took  her  home  with  him  to  George's  Creek ;  for  a  few 
months  they  were  happy  together,  and  then  suddenly,  in  October, 
she  died ;  no  one  knows,  perhaps  no  one  ever  knew,  the  cause  of 
her  death,  for  medical  science  was  not  common  at  George's  Creek. 
Gallatin  himself  left  no  account  of  it  that  has  been  preserved. 
He  suffered  intensely  for  the  time ;  but  he  was  fortunately  still 


1790.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  73 

young,  and  the  only  effect  of  his  wretchedness  was  to  drive  him 
headlong  into  politics  for  distraction. 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  8  mars,  1790. 

Mon  cher  Badollet  .  .  .  Tu  sens  surement  comme  moi  que  le 
sejour  du  comte"  de  Fayette  ne  peut  pas  m'e'tre  bien  agrSable,  et 
tu  sais  que  je  dSsirerais  m'eloigner  mSme  de  PAmerique.  J'ai 
fait  mes  efforts  pour  rSaliser  ce  projet,  mais  j'y  trouve  tous  les 
jours  de  nouvelles  difficult^.  II  m'est  absolument  impossible  de 
vendre  mes  terres  de  Yirginie  a  quel  prix  que  ce  soit,  et  je  ne  sais 
comment  je  trouverais  a  vivre  a  Geneve.  Sans  parler  de  mon 
age  et  de  mes  habitudes  et  de  ma  paresse,  qui  seraient  autant 
d'obstacles  aux  occupations  quelconques  que  je  serais  oblige"  d'em- 
brasser  en  Europe,  il  s'en  rencontre  un  autre  dans  les  circonstances 
actuelles  de  notre  patrie.  Les  revolutions  dans  la  politique  et 
surtout  les  finances  de  la  France  out  opere"  si  fortement  sur 
Geneve  que  les  marchands  y  sont  sans  credit  et  sans  affaires,  les 
artisans  sans  ouvrage  et  dans  la  misere,  et  tout  le  monde  dans 
Fembarras.  Non-seulement  les  gazettes  en  ont  fait  mention, 
mais  j'en  ai  re9U  quelques  details  dans  une  lettre  de  M.  Trembley, 
qui  quoiqu'anterieure  aux  derniers  avis  re9us  par  plusieurs  Suisses 
ici,  et  Scrite  dans  un  terns  ou  les  calamites  publiques  n'e"taient  pas 
au  point  ou  elles  sont  a  present,  m'apprenait  que  les  difficulte*s  et 
les  dangers  Staient  tels  qu'il  avait  depose*  le  peu  d'argent  qu'il 
avait  a  moi  dans  la  caisse  de  Phdpital.  Tous  les  Strangers  6tablis 
ici  s'accordent  a  dire  que  les  ressources  pour  se  tirer  d'affaires  en 
Europe  sont  presqu'aneanties,  au  moins  pour  ceux  qui  n'en  ont 
d'autre  que  leur  Industrie,  et  ces  faits  sont  confirme*s  par  nombre 
d'e"migrants  de  toutes  les  nations  et  de  tous  les  Stats.  Dans  ces 
circonstances  la  petite  rente  que  j'ai  en  France  Stant  tres-pre*caire 
tant  a  cause  de  la  tournure  incertaine  que  prendront  les  affaires 
que  parcequ'elle  est  sur  d'autres  tetes  et  sur  des  t£tes  plus  agees 
que  la  mienne,  il  est  bien  clair  que  je  n'aurais  d'autres  ressources 
que  celles  que  je  pourrais  tirer  des  dons  de  ma  famille,  vu  que 
leurs  efforts  seraient  probablement  inutiles  quant  a  me  procurer 
quelqu'occupation  a  laquelle  je  fusse  propre.  Cette  circon stance 


74  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIST.  1790. 

de  recevoir  serait  non-seulement  de"sagre"able,  mais  Pesp6rance  en 
serait  fort  incertaine ;  mon  oncle  Rolas,  le  cadet,  le  seul  qui  n'ait 
pas  d'enfans,  passe  pour  etre  ge"nereux,  mais  il  de"pense  beaucoup, 
plus,  je  crois,  que  ses  revenus ;  sa  fortune  qui  est  en  partie  en 
France  et  en  Hollande  recevra  probablement  quelqu'e"chec  dans 
ce  moment  de  crise,  et  la  seule  occupation  que  je  pourrais  suivre 
en  Europe  serait  celle  de  courtiser  un  heritage  que  je  ne  serais  ni 
faclie"  ni  honteux  de  recevoir  s'il  ne  me  coutait  aucunes  bassesses, 
pour  lequel  je  me  serais  cru  peut-£tre  oblige"  de  faire  quelques 
demarches  si  une  Spouse  che"rie  avait  v6cu,  mais  qui  dans  mes 
circonstances  actuelles  ne  saurait  m'engager  seul  a  retourner  a 
Geneve  pour  y  vivre  dans  une  totale  independance.  Ce  que  je 
dois  a  ma  digne  mere  est  la  seule  raison  qui  en  pourrait  contre- 
balancer  d'aussi  fortes ;  et  si  je  puis  entrevoir  seulement  la  possi- 
bilite"  de  vivre  dans  ma  patrie  pauvrement  mais  sans  etre  a  charge 
a  personne,  cette  raison  seule  me  d6cidera,  mais  jusqu'alors  je  ne 
vois  que  trop  la  necessity  de  rester  ici.  Ce  n'est  pas  que  je  me 
fasse  illusion  et  que  je  crois  pouvoir  faire  beaucoup  mieux  en 
Ame"rique,  mais  si  j'y  puis  seulement  vivre  inde"pendant,  c'est 
toujours  plus  que  je  ne  peux  espe"rer  en  Europe,  du  moins  a  pre"- 
sent,  et  je  crois  qu'un  an  d'application  a  Fe"tude  des  lois  me  suffira 
non  pas  pour  faire  une  fortune  ou  une  figure  brillante,  mais  pour 
m'assurer  du  pain  quelques  puissent  etre  les  e"venemens.  Je  t'ai 
parle"  bien  longuement  de  moi  seul,  et  la  seule  apologie  que  je  te 
donnerai  c'est  de  ne  Favoir  pas  fait  plus  tot.  Ne  crois  pas  cepen- 
dant  que  dans  mes  incertitudes  et  les  diffe"rentes  ide"es  qui  m'ont 
agite",  je  n'aie  pas  pens6  a  toi.  Je  te  d6clarerai  d'abord  franche- 
ment  que  je  n'aurais  pas  balance"  entre  Mile.  Pictet  et  toi,  et  que 
si  je  voyais  possibility  d?aller  la  joindre,  elle  Femporterait  stire- 
ment ;  Fide"e  de  devoir  et  de  reconnaissance  est  si  intimement  lie"e 
chez  moi  avec  1'affection  que  j'ai  pour  cette  respectable  personne 
que  quelques  regrets  que  j'eusse  de  te  quitter,  j'e"prouverais  me'me 
du  plaisir  en  le  faisant  dans  Fintention  de  contribuer  a  son  bon- 
heur ;  mais  ce  seul  objet  excepte",  il  n'y  a  rien  que  je  ne  te  sacri- 
fiasse ;  je  ne  te  sacrifierais  me'me  rien  en  te  preferant  au  reste  de 
mes  amis  et  parens  a  Geneve,  et  si  le  temps  pouvait  eifacer  le 
souvenir  de  mes  chagrins,  j'aimerais  mieux  vivre  pres  de  toi  en 
Ame"rique  que  sans  toi  dans  ma  patrie,  et  meme  dans  ce  moment 


1790.  YOUTH.     1761-1790.  75 

je  sens  combien  de  consolations  je  recevrais  du  seul  ami  qui  ait 
connu  mon  aimable  Sophie ;  en  un  mot  je  n'ai  pas  besoin  de  te 
dire  que  si  je  reste  ici,  mon  sort  doit  £tre  intimement  lie"  avec  le 
tien.  Mais  a  Fegard  de  la  maniere,  du  lieu  futur  de  notre  sejour, 
je  ne  puis  encore  former  d'opinion  vu  Farrive'e  de  ton  frSre.  .  .  . 
Quelque  parti  que  nous  puissions  prendre  pour  Favenir,  je  desire 
aussi  fortement  que  toi  que  nous  soyons  inde"pendants  Fun  et 
Fautre,  quant  a  notre  maniere  de  vivre.  Si  tu  crois  que  nous  ne 
quittions  pas  Fayetfe,  ne  neglige  pas  Fouvrage  que  tu  avais  com- 
mence" pour  vivre  chez  toi  en  pr6parant  une  cabane  joignant  le 
champ  de  Robert.  Si  tu  supposes  qu'il  soit  probable  que  nous 
changions  de  demeure,  attends  jusques  a  Farrivee  de  ton  frere 
pour  faire  une  defense  qui  n'augmenterait  pas  la  valeur  de  la 
terre.  .  .  .  Voila,  je  crois,  tout  ce  que  j'ai  a  te  dire  pour  le  pre"- 
sent;  si  je  ne  peux  pas  vendre  cette  semaine  une  traite,  je  serai 
dans  15  a  20  jours  avec  toi.  .  .  . 

Every  letter  received  by  Gallatin  from  Geneva  between 
1780  and  1790  had,  in  one  form  or  another,  urged  his  return 
or  expressed  discontent  at  his  situation.  But  the  storm  of  the 
French  revolution  had  at  last  fairly  begun,  and  Geneva  felt  it 
severely  and  early.  Not  till  the  7th  of  April,  1790,  did  Galla- 
tin overcome  his  repugnance  to  writing  in  regard  to  his  wife's 
death  to  Mile.  Pictet,  and  he  then  expressed  to  her  his  wish  to 
return  for  her  sake.  At  this  critical  moment  of  his  life  the 
feelings  of  his  family  had  begun  to  change.  They  no  longer 
looked  upon  him  as  a  subject  of  pity.  "L'e"tat  pre*caire  de  la 
France"  is  mentioned  by  Mile.  Pictet  in  June  and  July,  1790, 
as  a  subject  of  anxiety ;  "  nous  ignorons  encore  quel  il  sera,  notre 
gouvernement ;"  "  quant  aux  conseils  que  tu  me  demandes  par 
rapport  a  ton  retour,  et  aux  ressources  que  tu  pourrais  trouver 
dans  notre  pays,  je  suis  bien  embarrassed  a  te  re"pondre."  It 
was  too  late.  Indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  this  idea  of 
returning  to  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  Mile.  Pictet  was  really  more 
than  the  momentary  sickness  at  heart  consequent  on  a  great 
shock,  which  in  any  case  could  not  have  lasted  long.  Galla- 
tin's  career  already  lay  open  before  him.  His  misfortunes  only 
precipated  the  result. 


BOOK    II. 

THE   LEGISLATURE.    1789-1801. 

THE  Federal  Constitution  of  1787,  accepted  only  a  few  years 
later  by  all  parties  and  by  the  whole  people  as  the  last  word  of 
political  wisdom,  was  at  its  birth  greatly  admired  by  no  one. 
The  public  mind  was  divided  between  two  classes  of  axioms 
and  theories,  each  embodying  sound  reasoning  and  honest  con- 
viction, but  resting  at  bottom  upon  divergent  habits  of  life  and 
forms  of  industry.  Among  the  commercial  and  professional 
citizens  of  the  sea-board  towns  a  strong  government  was  thought 
necessary  to  protect  their  trade  and  their  peace ;  but  there  was  a 
wide  latitude  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  degree  of  strength  re- 
quired for  their  purpose,  and  while  a  few  of  the  ablest  and  most 
determined  leaders  would  have  frankly  accepted  the  whole  theory 
of  the  English  constitution  and  as  much  of  its  machinery  as 
possible,  the  mass  even  of  their  own  followers  instinctively  pre- 
ferred a  federative  and  democratic  system.  Among  the  agricul- 
tural and  scattered  population  of  the  country,  where  the  necessity 
of  police  and  authority  was  little  felt,  and  where  a  strong  govern- 
ment was  an  object  of  terror  and  hatred,  the  more  ignorant  and 
the  more  violent  class  might  perhaps  honestly  deny  the  necessity 
for  any  national  government  at  all ;  with  the  great  majority, 
however,  it  was  somewhat  unwillingly  conceded  that  national 
government  was  a  necessary  evil,  and  that  some  concessions  of 
power  must  be  made  to  it ;  their  object  was  to  reduce  these  con- 
cessions to  the  lowest  possible  point.  No  one  can  doubt  where 
Mr.  Gallatin's  sympathies  would  lie  as  between  the  two  great 
social  and  political  theories.  The  reaction  against  strong  gov- 
ernments and  their  corruptions  had  a  great  part  in  that  general 
feeling  of  restlessness  and  revolt  which  drew  him  from  the  centre 
of  civilization  to  its  outskirts.  There  could  be  no  question  of 
76 


1788.  THE     LEGISLATTJKE.     1789-1801.  77 

the  "  awful  squinting  towards  monarchy"  in  portions  of  the  pro- 
posed constitution,  more  especially  in  the  office  of  President,  and 
no  one  pretended  that  the  instrument  as  it  stood  contained  suffi- 
cient safeguards  against  abuse  of  public  or  of  private  liberties. 
It  could  expect  little  real  sympathy  among  the  western  counties 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Nevertheless,  in  the  convention,  which  was  immediately  called 
to  ratify  the  Constitution  on  the  part  of  the  State,  there  was  a 
majority  in  its  favor  of  nearly  two  to  one ;  a  majority  so  large 
and  so  earnest  that  extremely  little  respect  was  paid  to  the 
minority  and  its  modest  proposals  of  amendments,  the  vote  of 
ratification  being  at  last  carried  against  a  helpless  opposition  by  a 
species  of  force.  Of  this  convention  Mr.  Gallatin  was  not  a 
member;  but  when  the  action  of  other  States,  and  notably 
of  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  and  New  York,  in  recommending 
amendments  at  the  moment  of  ratification,  gave  to  the  opposi- 
tion new  hopes  of  yet  carrying  some  of  their  points,  the  party 
made  a  last  effort  in  Pennsylvania,  which  resulted  in  calling 
a  conference  at  Harrisburg  on  the  3d  September,  1788.  There 
thirty-three  gentlemen  assembled,  of  whom  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
one ;  Blair  McClanachan  was  chosen  chairman ;  "  free  discussion 
and  mature  deliberation"  followed,  and  a  report,  or  declaration 
of  opinion,  was  formally  adopted.  Two  drafts  of  this  docu- 
ment are  among  Mr.  Gallatin's  papers,  both  written  in  his  own 
hand,  one  of  them,  much  amended  and  interlined,  obviously  a 
first  sketch,  used  probably  in  committee  as  the  ground-work  of 
the  adopted  instrument.  It  is  only  a  natural  inference  that  he 
was  the  draughtsman. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Gallatin  was  one  of  those 
persons  who  thought  the  new  Constitution  went  much  too  far. 
He  would,  doubtless,  have  preferred  that  all  the  great  depart- 
ments— executive,  legislative,  and  judicial — should  have  been 
more  closely  restricted  in  their  exercise  of  power,  and,  indeed, 
he  would  probably  have  thought  it  better  still  that  the  President 
should  be  reduced  to  a  cipher,  the  legislature  limited  to  functions 
little  more  than  executive,  and  the  judiciary  restricted  to  admi- 
ralty and  inter-state  jurisdiction,  with  no  other  court  than  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  without  appellate  jurisdiction  other  than 


78  LIFE     OF    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1788. 

by  writ  of  error  from  the  State  courts.  This  would  best  have 
suited  his  early  theories  and  prejudices.  This  rough  draft,  there- 
fore, has  some  interest  as  showing  how  far  he  was  disposed  to 
carry  his  opposition  to  the  Constitution,  and  it  seems  to  show 
that  he  was  inclined  to  go  considerable  lengths.  The  resolu- 
tions as  there  drafted  read  as  follows : 

"  1st.  Resolved,  that  in  order  to  prevent  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  and  to  secure  our  liberties  and  those  of  our  posterity,  it- 
is  necessary  that  a  revision  of  the  Federal  Constitution  be  ob- 
tained in  the  most  speedy  manner. 

"  2d.  That  the  safest  manner  to  obtain  such  a  revision  will  be, 
in  conformity  to  the  request  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  use 
our  endeavors  to  have  a  convention  called  as  soon  as  possible ; 

"Resolved,  therefore,  that  the  Assembly  of  this  State  be 
petitioned  to  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  make  an  application 
for  that  purpose  to  the  new  Congress. 

"3d.  That  in  order  that  the  friends  to  amendments  of  the 
Federal  Constitution  who  are  inhabitants  of  this  State  may  act 
in  concert,  it  is  necessary,  and  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  the 
several  counties  in  the  State,  to  appoint  committees,  who  may 
correspond  one  with  the  other  and  with  such  similar  committees 
as  may  be  formed  in  other  States. 

"4th.  That  the  friends  to  amendments  to  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution in  the  several  States  be  invited  to  meet  in  a  general 
conference,  to  be  held  at  ,  on  ,  and 

that  members  be  elected  by  this  conference,  who,  or 

any  of  them,  shall  meet  at  said  place  and  time,  in  order 

to  devise,  in  concert  with  such  other  delegates  from  the  several 
States  as  may  come  under  similar  appointments,  on  such  amend- 
ments to  the  Federal  Constitution  as  to  them  may  seem  most 
necessary,  and  on  the  most  likely  way  to  carry  them  into 
effect." 

But  it  seems  that  the  tendency  of  opinion  in  the  meeting  was 
towards  a  less  energetic  policy.  The  first  resolution  was  trans- 
formed into  a  shape  which  falls  little  short  of  tameness,  and  has 
none  of  the  simple  directness  of  Gallatin's  style  and  thought : 

"  1st.  Resolved,  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  people  of  this 
State  to  acquiesce  in  the  organization  of  the  said  government. 


1788.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  79 

But  although  we  thus  accord  in  its  organization,  we  by  no  means 
lose  sight  of  the  grand  object  of  obtaining  very  considerable 
amendments  and  alterations  which  we  consider  essential  to  pre- 
serve the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Union  and  those  invaluable 
privileges  for  which  so  much  blood  and  treasure  have  been 
recently  expended. 

"  2d.  Resolved,  that  it  is  necessary  to  obtain  a  speedy  revision 
of  said  Constitution  by  a  general  convention. 

"  3d.  Resolved  that,  therefore,  in  order  to  effect  this  desirable 
end,  a  petition  be  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  re- 
questing that  honorable  body  to  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to 
make  application  for  that  purpose  to  the  new  Congress." 

Thus  it  appears  that  if  Mr.  Gallatin  went  to  this  conference 
with  the  object  indicated  in  his  first  draft,  he  abandoned  the 
scheme  of  a  national  organization  for  a  reform  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  greatly  modified  his  attitude  towards  the  Constitution 
itself  before  the  conference  adjourned.  The  petition,  with  which 
the  report  closed,  recommended  twelve  amendments,  drawn  from 
among  those  previously  recommended  by  Massachusetts,  Vir- 
ginia, New  York,  and  other  States,  and  containing  little  more 
than  repetitions  of  language  already  familiar.  How  far  Mr. 
Gallatin  led  or  resisted  this  acquiescent  policy  is  unknown ;  at 
all  events,  it  was  the  policy  henceforth  adopted  by  the  opposi- 
tion, which  readily  accepted  Mr.  Madison's  very  mild  amend- 
ments and  rapidly  transformed  itself  into  a  party  organization 
with  hands  stretched  out  to  seize  for  itself  these  dangerous  gov- 
ernmental powers.  But  Mr.  Gallatin  never  changed  his  opinion 
that  the  President  was  too  powerful ;  even  in  his  mogt  mature 
age  he  would  probably  have  preferred  a  system  more  nearly  re- 
sembling some  of  the  present  colonial  governments  of  Great 
Britain. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  year  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
summoned  a  convention  to  revise  the  State  constitution.  There 
was  perhaps  some  ground  for  doubting  the  legality  of  this  step, 
for  the  existing  constitution  of  1776  gave  to  the  Council  of  Cen- 
sors the  power  to  devise  and  propose  amendments  and  to  call  a  con- 
vention, and  the  Assembly  had  properly  nothing  to  do  with  the 
subject.  Mr.  Gallatin  held  strong  opinions  upon  the  impropriety 


SO  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1789. 

of  obtaining  the  desired  amendments  by  a  process  which  was 
itself  unconstitutional,  and  he  even  attempted  to  organize  an 
opposition  in  the  western  counties,  and  to  persuade  the  voters 
of  each  election  district  to  adopt  resolutions  denouncing  the  pro- 
ceeding as  unconstitutional,  unnecessary,  and  highly  improper, 
and  refusing  to  elect  delegates.  Early  in  October,  1789,  he  wrote 
to  this  effect  to  the  leading  politicians  of  Washington  and  Alle- 
ghany  Counties,  and,  among  the  rest,  to  Alexander  Addison, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  the  convention,  and  whom  he  urged  to 
withdraw.  A  part  of  this  letter,  dated  October  7,  ran  as  follows : 

"Alterations  in  government  are  always  dangerous,  and  no 
legislator  ever  did  think  of  putting,  in  such  an  easy  manner, 
the  power  in  a  mere  majority  to  introduce  them  whenever  they 
pleased.  Such  a  doctrine  once  admitted  would  enable  not  only 
the  Legislature  but  a  majority  of  the  more  popular  house,  were 
two  established,  to  make  another  appeal  to  the  people  on  the  first 
occasion,  and  instead  of  establishing  on  solid  foundations  a  new 
government,  would  open  the  door  to  perpetual  changes  and  de- 
stroy that  stability  so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  a  nation ;  as  no 
constitution  acquires  the  permanent  affection  of  the  people  but  in 
proportion  to  its  duration  and  age.  Finally,  those  changes  would, 
sooner  or  later,  conclude  in  an  appeal  to  arms, — the  true  meaning 
of  those  words  so  popular  and  so  dangerous,  An  appeal  to  the 
People." 

Mr.  Gallatin's  opposition  came  too  late.  His  correspondents 
wrote  back  to  the  effect  that  combined  action  was  impossible,  and 
a  few  days  later  he  was  himself  chosen  a  delegate  from  Fayette 
County  to  this  same  convention  which  he  had  felt  himself  bound 
in  conscience  to  oppose.  This  was  in  accordance  with  all  his 
future  political  practice,  for  Mr.  Gallatin  very  rarely  persisted 
in  following  his  own  judgment  after  it  had  been  overruled,  but 
in  this  instance  his  course  was  perhaps  decisively  affected  by  the 
sudden  death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  at  this  moment  and 
made  any  escape  from  his  habitual  mode  of  life  seem  a  relief 
and  an  object  of  desire. 

The  convention  sat  from  November  24,  1789,  till  February 
26, 1790,  and  was  Gallatin's  apprenticeship  in  the  public  service. 
Among  his  papers  are  a  number  of  memoranda,  some  of  them 


1790.  THE     LEGISLATTJKE.     1789-1801.  •       81 

indicating  much  elaboration,  of  speeches  made  or  intended  to  be 
made  in  this  body;  one  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  enlarging  the 
number  of  Representatives  in  the  House ;  another,  against  James 
Boss's  plan  of  choosing  Senators  by  electors;  another,  on  the 
liberty  of  the  press,  with  "  quotations  from  Roman  code,  supplied 
by  Duponceau."  There  is  further  a  memorandum  of  his  motion 
in  regard  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  by  virtue  of  which  every 
"freeman  who  has  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and 
been  a  resident  and  inhabitant  during  one  year  next  before  the 
days  of  election ;"  every  naturalized  freeholder,  every  naturalized 
citizen  who  had  been  assessed  for  State  or  county  taxes  for  two 
years  before  election  day,  or  who  had  resided  ten  years  succes- 
sively in  the  State,  should  be  entitled  to  the  suffrage,  paupers 
and  vagabonds  only  being  excluded.  Gallatin  seems  also  to 
have  been  interested,  both  at  this  time  and  subsequently,  in  an 
attempt  to  lessen  the  difficulties  growing  from  the  separation  of 
law  and  equity.  On  this  subject  he  wrote  early  to  John  Mar- 
shall for  advice,  and  although  the  reply  has  no  very  wide  popular 
interest,  yet,  in  the  absence  of  any  collection  of  Marshall's 
writings,  this  letter  may  claim  a  place  here,  illustrating,  as  it 
does,  not  only  the  views  of  the  future  chief  justice,  but  the 
interests  and  situation  of  Mr.  Gallatin  : 


JOHN   MARSHALL   TO-  GALLATIN. 

EICHMOND,  January  3,  1790. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  yours  of  the  23d  of  December, 
and  wish  it  was  in  my  power  to  answer  satisfactorily  your  ques- 
tions concerning  our  judiciary  system,  but  I  was  myself  in  the 
army  during  that  period  concerning  the  transactions  of  which 
you  inquire,  and  have  not  since  informed  myself  of  the  reasons 
which  governed  in  making  those  changes  which  took  place  before 
the  establishment  of  that  system  which  I  found  on  my  coming 
to  the  bar.  Under  the  colonial  establishment  the  judges  of 
common  law  were  also  judges  of  chancery ;  at  the  Revolution 
these  powers  were  placed  in  different  persons.  I  have  not  under- 
stood that  there  was  any  considerable  opposition  to  this  division 
of  jurisdiction.  Some  of  the  reasons  leading  to  it,  I  presume, 

6 


£2  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1790. 

were  that  the  same  person  could  not  appropriate  a  sufficiency  of 
time  to  each  court  to  perform  the  public  business  with  requisite 
despatch ;  that  the  principles  of  adjudication  being  different  in 
the  two  courts,  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  eminence  in 
each  could  be  attained  by  the  same  man ;  that  there  was  an  ap- 
parent absurdity  in  seeing  the  same  men  revise  in  the  characters 
of  chancellors  the  judgments  they  had  themselves  rendered  as 
common-law  judges.  There  are,  however,  many  who  think  that 
the  chancery  and  common-law  jurisdiction  ought  to  be  united  in 
the  same  persons.  They  are  actually  united  in  our  inferior  courts ; 
and  I  have  never  heard  it  suggested  that  this  union  is  otherwise 
inconvenient  than  as  it  produces  delay  to  the  chancery  docket. 
I  never  heard  it  proposed  to  give  the  judges  of  the  general  court 
chancery  jurisdiction.  When  the  district  system  was  introduced 
in  '82,  it  was  designed  to  give  the  district  judges  the  powers  of 
chancellors,  but  the  act  did  not  then  pass,  though  the  part  con- 
cerning the  court  of  chancery  formed  no  objection  to  the  bill. 
When  again  introduced  it  assumed  a  different  form,  nor  has  the 
idea  ever  been  revived. 

The  first  act  constituting  a  high  court  of  chancery  annexed 
a  jury  for  the  trial  of  all  important  facts  in  the  cause.  To  this, 
I  presume,  we  were  led  by  that  strong  partiality  which  the  citizens 
of  America  have  for  that  mode  of  trial.  It  was  soon  parted 
with,  and  the  facts  submitted  to  the  judge,  with  a  power  to  direct 
an  issue  wherever  the  fact  was  doubtful.  In  most  chancery 
cases  the  law  and  fact  are  so  blended  together  that  if  a  jury  was 
impanelled  of  course  the  whole  must  be  submitted  to  them,  or 
every  case  must  assume  the  form  of  a  special  verdict,  which  would 
produce  inconvenience  and  delay. 

The  delays  of  the  court  of  chancery  have  been  immense,  and 
those  delays  are  inseparable  from  the  court  if  the  practice  of 
England  be  observed.  But  that  practice  is  not  necessary.  7Tis 
greatly  abridged  in  Virginia  by  an  Act  passed  in  1787,  and 
great  advantages  result  from  the  reform.  There  have  been  in- 
stances of  suits  depending  for  twenty  years,  but  under  our  present 
regulations  a  decision  would  be  had  in  that  court  as  soon  as  any 
other  in  which  there  were  an  equal  number  of  weighty  causes. 
The  parties  may  almost  immediately  set  about  collecting  their 


1790.  THE     LEGISLATE  KE.     1789-1801.  83 

proofs,  and  so  soon  as  they  have  collected  them  they  may  set  the 
cause  on  the  court  docket  for  a  hearing. 

It  has  never  been  proposed  to  blend  the  principles  of  common 
law  and  chancery  so  as  for  each  to  operate  at  the  same  time  in 
the  same  cause;  and  I  own  it  would  seem  to  me  to  be  very 
difficult  to  effect  such  a  scheme,  but  at  the  same  time  it  must 
be  admitted  that  could  it  be  effected  it  would  save  considerable 
sums  of  money  to  the  litigant  parties. 

I  enclose  you  a  copy  of  the  act  you  request.  I  most  sincerely 
condole  with  you  on  your  heavy  loss.  Time  only,  aided  by  the 
efforts  of  philosophy,  can  restore  you  to  yourself. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  much  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  MARSHALL. 

In  a  letter  written  in  1838,  when  the  constitution  was  re- 
vised, Mr.  Gallatin  gave  an  account  of  the  convention  of  1789, 
which  was,  he  said,  "the  first  public  body  to  which  I  was  elected, 
and  I  took  but  a  subordinate  share  in  its  debates.  It  was  one 
of  the  ablest  bodies  of  which  I  was  a  member  and  with  which 
I  was  acquainted.  Indeed,  could  I  except  two  names,  Madison 
and  Marshall,  I  would  say  that  it  embraced  as  much  talent  and 
knowledge  as  any  Congress  from  1795  to  1812,  beyond  which 
my  personal  knowledge  does  not  extend.  But  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  convention  was  that,  owing  perhaps  to  more  favor- 
able times,  it  was  less  affected  by  party  feelings  than  any  other 
public  body  that  I  have  known.  The  points  of  difference  were 
almost  exclusively  on  general  and  abstract  propositions;  there 
was  less  prejudice  and  more  sincerity  in  the  discussions  than 
usual,  and  throughout  a  desire  to  conciliate  opposite  opinions 
by  mutual  concessions.  The  consequence  was  that,  though  not 
formally  submitted  to  the  ratification  of  the  people,  no  public 
act  was  ever  more  universally  approved  than  the  constitution  of 
Pennsylvania  at  the  time  when  it  was  promulgated." l 

The  next  year,  in  October,  1790,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  elected  to 
the  State  Legislature,  to  which  he  was  re-elected  in  1791  an^ 
1792.  In  1790  there  was  a  contest,  and  he  had  a  majority  of 

1  Writings,  ii.  523. 


84  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1790. 

about  two-thirds  of  the  votes.  Afterwards  he  was  returned 
without  opposition. 

The  details  of  State  politics  are  not  a  subject  of  great  interest 
to  the  general  public,  even  in  their  freshest  condition,  and  the 
local  politics  of  Pennsylvania  in  1790  are  no  exception  to  this 
law.  They  are  here  of  importance  only  so  far  as  they  are  a 
part  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  life,  and  the  medium  through  which  he 
rose  to  notice.  He  has  left  a  memorandum,  which  is  complete 
in  itself,  in  regard  to  his  three  years'  service  in  the  State 
Legislature : 

"I  acquired  an  extraordinary  influence  in  that  body  (the 
Pennsylvania  House  of  Representatives), — the  more  remarkable, 
as  I  was  always  in  a  party  minority.  I  was  indebted  for  it  to 
my  great  industry  and  to  the  facility  with  which  I  could  under- 
stand and  carry  on  the  current  business.  The  laboring  oar  was 
left  almost  exclusively  to  me.  In  the  session  of  1791-1792  I 
was  put  on  thirty-five  committees,  prepared  all  their  reports,  and 
drew  all  their  bills.  Absorbed  by  those  details,  my  attention 
was  turned  exclusively  to  administrative  laws,  and  not  to  legis- 
lation properly  so  called.  The  great  reforms  of  the  penal  code, 
which,  to  the  lasting  honor  of  Pennsylvania,  originated  in  that 
State,  had  already  been  carried  into  effect,  principally  under  the 
auspices  of  William  Bradford.  Not  being  a  professional  lawyer, 
I  was  conscious  of  my  incapacity  for  digesting  any  practicable 
and  useful  improvement  in  our  civil  jurisprudence.  I  proposed 
that  the  subject  should  be  referred  to  a  commission,  and  Judge 
Wilson  was  accordingly  appointed  for  that  purpose.  He  did 
nothing,  and  the  plan  died  away.  It  would  have  been  better 
to  appoint  the  chief  justice  and  the  attorney-general  of  the  State 
(McKean  and  Bradford),  and,  in  the  first  instance  at  least,  to 
have  confined  them  to  a  revision  of  the  statute  law,  whether 
colonial,  State,  or  British,  still  in  force. 

"  I  failed,  though  the  bill  I  had  introduced  passed  the  House, 
in  my  efforts  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  better  system  of  educa- 
tion. Primary  education  was  almost  universal  in  Pennsylvania, 
but  very  bad,  and  the  bulk  of  schoolmasters  incompetent,  miser- 
ably paid,  and  held  in  no  consideration.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
in  order  to  create  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  teachers,  and 


1790-1793.         THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  85 

to  raise  the  standard  of  general  education,  intermediate  academ- 
ical education  was  an  indispensable  preliminary  step;  and  the 
object  of  the  bill  was  to  establish  in  each  county  an  academy, 
allowing  to  each  out  of  the  treasury  a  sum  equal  to  that  raised 
by  taxation  in  the  county  for  its  support.  But  there  was  at  that 
time  in  Pennsylvania  a  Quaker  and  a  German  opposition  to 
every  plan  of  general  education. 

"The  spirit  of  internal  improvements  had  not  yet  been 
awakened.  Still,  the  first  turnpike-road  in  the  United  States 
was  that  from  Philadelphia  to  Lancaster,  which  met  with  con- 
siderable opposition.  This,  as  well  as  every  temporary  improve- 
ment in  our  communications  (roads  and  rivers)  and  preliminary 
surveys,  met,  of  course,  with  my  warm  support.  But  it  was  in 
the  fiscal  department  that  I  was  particularly  employed,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  times  favored  the  restoration  of  the  finances 
of  the  State. 

"The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  of  the 
session  1790-1791  (presented  by  Gurney,  chairman)  was  en- 
tirely prepared  by  me,  known  to  be  so,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  my  reputation.  I  was  quite  astonished  at  the  general  enco- 
miums bestowed  upon  it,  and  was  not  at  all  aware  that  I  had 
done  so  well.  It  was  perspicuous  and  comprehensive;  but  I 
am  confident  that  its  true  merit,  and  that  which  gained  me  the 
general  confidence,  was  its  being  founded  in  strict  justice,  without 
the  slightest  regard  to  party  feelings  or  popular  prejudices.  The 
principles  assumed,  and  which  were  carried  into  effect,  were  the 
immediate  reimbursement  and  extinction  of  the  State  paper 
money,  the  immediate  payment  in  specie  of  all  the  current 
expenses  or  warrants  on  the  treasury  (the  postponement  and 
uncertainty  of  which  had  given  rise  to  shameful  and  corrupt 
speculations),  and  provision  for  discharging  without  defalcation 
every  debt  and  engagement  previously  recognized  by  the  State. 
In  conformity  with  this  the  State  paid  to  its  creditors  the  differ- 
ence between  the  nominal  amount  of  the  State  debt  assumed  by 
the  United  States  and  the  rate  at  which  it  was  funded  by  the 
Act  of  Congress. 

"  The  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  together  with  the  arrears, 
were  the  fund  which  not  only  discharged  all  the  public  debts  but 


86  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.      1790-1793. 

left  a  large  surplus.  The  apprehension  that  this  would  be 
squandered  by  the  Legislature  was  the  principal  inducement  for 
chartering  the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania  with  a  capital  of  two 
millions  of  dollars,  of  which  the  State  subscribed  one-half.  This 
and  similar  subsequent  investments  enabled  Pennsylvania  to 
defray  out  of  the  dividends  all  the  expenses  of  government 
without  any  direct  tax  during  the  forty  ensuing  years,  and  till 
the  adoption  of  the  system  of  internal  improvement,  which 
required  new  resources. 

"  It  was  my  constant  assiduity  to  business  and  the  assistance 
derived  from  it  by  many  members  which  enabled  the  Republican 
party  in  the  Legislature,  then  a  minority  on  a  joint  ballot,  to 
elect  me,  and  no  other  but  me  of  that  party,  Senator  of  the 
United  States." 

Among  the  reports  enumerated  by  Mr.  Gallatin  as  those  of 
which  he  was  the  author  is  the  following,  made  by  a  committee 
on  the  22d  March,  1793  : 

"  That  they  .  .  .  are  of  opinion  that  slavery  is  inconsistent 
with  every  principle  of  humanity,  justice,  and  right,  and  repug- 
nant to  the  spirit  and  express  letter  of  the  constitution  of  this 
Commonwealth;  therefore  submit  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

"  Resolved,  that  slavery  be  abolished  in  this  Commonwealth, 
and  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  that 
purpose." 

A  certificate  dated  "Philadelphia,  3d  moiith,  25th,  1793," 
signed  by  James  Pemberton,  President,  records  that  Albert 
Gallatin  ais  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  pro- 
moting the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  relief  of  free  negroes  un- 
lawfully held  in  bondage,  and  for  improving  the  condition  of 
the  African  race." 

Party  spirit  was  not  violent  in  Pennsylvania  during  these 
few  years  of  Washington's  first  Administration.  As  yet  Mr. 
Madison  was  a  good  Federalist;  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  Secretary  of 
State,  was  the  champion  of  his  country  against  Genet  and  French 
aggression;  Governor  Mifflin  was  elected  without  opposition 
from  the  Republican  interest;  Alexander  J.  Dallas  was  appointed 
by  him  Secretary  of  State  for  Pennsylvania ;  and  Albert  Galla- 
tin was  elected  Senator  by  a  Federalist  Legislature.  Gallatin, 


1791.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  87 

who  at  every  period  of  his  life  required  the  spur  of  sincere  con- 
viction to  act  a  partisan  part,  found  in  this  condition  of  things 
precisely  the  atmosphere  most  agreeable  to  his  tastes ;  but  there 
was  one  political  issue  which  had  already  risen,  and  which,  while 
tending  to  hasten  the  rapid  growth  of  parties,  threatened  also  to 
wreck  his  entire  career.  This  was  the  excise. 

So  far  as  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  concerned,  the  tax  on 
whiskey-stills  could  hardly  have  been  a  matter  of  serious  im- 
portance, and  he  must  have  seen  that  as  a  political  issue  it  was  not 
less  dangerous  to  his  own  party  than  to  the  Administration ;  but 
he  was  the  representative  of  a  remote  border  county,  beyond  the 
mountains,  where  the  excise  was  really  oppressive  and  worked 
injustice,  and  where  the  spirit  of  liberty  ran  high.  Opposition 
to  the  tax  was  a  simple  matter  to  Republicans  elsewhere ;  they 
had  merely  to  vote  and  to  argue,  and  make  what  political  ad- 
vantage they  might  from  this  unpopular  measure  into  which 
the  Administration  was  dragged  in  attempting  to  follow  out  the 
policy  of  Mr.  Hamilton ;  but  the  case  was  very  different  with 
Mr.  Gallatin.  He  had  not  only  to  lead  the  attack  on  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton, but  to  restrain  his  own  followers  from  fatal  blunders  to  which 
they  were  only  too  well  disposed ;  over  these  followers,  at  least 
outside  his  own  county,  he  had  absolutely  no  authority  and  very 
little  influence.  From  the  first  it  became  a  mere  question  of 
policy  how  far  he  could  go  with  his  western  friends.  The 
answer  was  simple,  and  left  a  very  narrow  margin  of  uncer- 
tainty :  Mr.  Gallatin,  like  any  other  political  leader,  could  go 
to  the  limits  of  the  law  in  opposition  to  the  tax,  and  no  further. 
His  political  existence  depended  on  his  nerve  in  applying  this 
rule  at  the  moment  of  exigency. 

The  excise  on  domestic  spirits  was  a  part  of  Mr.  Hamilton's 
broad  financial  scheme,  and  the  necessary  consequence  of  the 
assumption  of  the  State  debts.  To  this  whole  scheme,  and  to  all 
Mr.  Hamilton's  measures,  the  Republican  party,  and  Gallatin 
among  them,  were  strongly  opposed.  In  the  original  opposition, 
however,  Gallatin  had  no  public  share ;  he  began  to  take  a  part 
only  when  his  position  as  a  Representative  required  him  to  do  so. 

The  very  first  legislative  paper  which  he  is  believed  to  have 
drafted  is  a  series  of  resolutions  on  the  excise,  introduced  into 


88  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATLN.  1791. 

the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  by  Francis  Gurney,  on  the  14th 
January,  1791,  and  intended  to  affect  the  bill  then  before  Con- 
gress. These  resolutions  were  very  strong,  and  intimated  a  dis- 
tinct opinion  that  the  excise  bill,  as  it  stood,  was  "subversive  of 
the  peace,  liberty,  and  rights  of  the  citizen,"  and  "  exhibited  the 
singular  spectacle  of  a  nation  resolutely  opposing  the  oppression 
of  others  in  order  to  enslave  itself."  Strong  as  they  were,  how- 
ever, the  House  of  Representatives  adopted  them  by  a  vote  of 
40  to  16. 

The  reasons  of  the  peculiar  hostility  of  the  western  counties 
to  the  whiskey  tax  are  clearly  given  in  the  petition  which  Gal- 
latin  drafted  in  1792  for  presentation  to  Congress  on  the  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  country: 

"  Our  peculiar  situation  renders  this  duty  still  more  unequal 
and  oppressive  to  us.  Distant  from  a  permanent  market  and 
separate  from  the  eastern  coast  by  mountains,  which  render  the 
communication  difficult  and  almost  impracticable,  we  have  no 
means  of  bringing  the  produce  of  our  lands  to  sale  either  in 
grain  or  in  meal.  "We  are  therefore  distillers  through  necessity, 
not  choice,  that  we  may  comprehend  the  greatest  value  in  the 
smallest  size  and  weight.  The  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  side 
of  the  mountains  can  dispose  of  their  grain  without  the  addi- 
tional labor  of  distillation  at  a  higher  price  than  we  can  after 
we  have  bestowed  that  labor  upon  it.  Yet  with  this  addi- 
tional labor  we  must  also  pay  a  high  duty,  from  which  they  are 
exempted,  because  we  have  no  means  of  selling  our  surplus 
produce  but  in  a  distilled  state. 

"Another  circumstance  which  renders  this  duty  ruinous  to  us 
is  our  scarcity  of  cash.  Our  commerce  is  not,  as  on  the  eastern 
coast,  carried  on  so  much  by  absolute  sale  as  by  barter,  and  we 
believe  it  to  be  a  fact  that  there  is  not  among  us  a  quantity  of 
circulating  cash  sufficient  for  the  payment  of  this  duty  alone. 
We  are  not  accustomed  to  complain  without  reason;  we  have 
punctually  and  cheerfully  paid  former  taxes  on  our  estates  and 
possessions  because  they  were  proportioned  to  our  real  wealth. 
We  believe  this  to  be  founded  on  no  such  equitable  principles, 
and  are  persuaded  that  your  honorable  House  will  find  on  in- 
vestigation that  its  amount,  if  duly  collected,  will  be  four  times 


1792.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  89 

as  large  as  any  taxes  which  we  have  hitherto  paid  on  the  whole 
of  our  lands  and  other  property." 

The  excise  law  was  passed  in  1791,  and  in  that  year  a  public 
meeting  was  held  in  the  town  of  "Washington,  and  adopted  reso- 
lutions, one  of  which  brought  the  remonstrants  to  the  extreme 
verge  of  lawful  opposition.  They  agreed  to  hold  no  communi- 
cation with,  and  to  treat  with  contempt,  such  men  as  accepted 
offices  under  the  law.  Mr.  Gallatin  was  not  present  at  this 
meeting,  which  was  held  while  he  was  attending  to  his  duties  as 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature. 

Few  of  his  letters  at  this  period  have  been  preserved,  and  of 
these  none  have  any  public  interest.  During  the  session  of 
1792  the  following  extracts  from  letters  to  Badollet  are  all  that 
have  the  smallest  political  importance : 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  7th  January,  1792 

.  .  .  We  have  yet  done  nothing  very  material,  and  Congress 
do 'not  seem  to  be  over-anxious  to  shorten  their  sitting,  if  at 
least  we  can  form  any  judgment  from  the  slowness  of  their  pro- 
ceedings. As  to  that  part  of  their  laws  which  concerns  us  more 
immediately, — I  mean  the  excise  and  the  expected  amendments, 
— all  the  papers  relative  to  it,  petitions,  &c.,  have  been  referred 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Hamilton,  by  the  House 
of  Representatives.  That  officer  has  not  yet  reported,  nor  can 
we  guess  at  what  will  probably  be  the  outlines  of  his  report, 
although  I  am  apt  to  think  the  amendments  he  will  propose  will 
fall  short  of  our  wishes  and  expectations.  As  to  a  repeal,  it  is 
altogether  out  of  the  question. 

But  the  event  which  now  mostly  engrosses  the  public  atten- 
tion, and  almost  exclusively  claims  ours,  is  the  fatal  defeat  of 
St.  Glair's  army.  Our  frontiers  are  naked;  the  Indians  must 
be  encouraged  by  their  success ;  the  preparations  of  the  United 
States  must  take  some  time  before  they  are  completed,  and  our 
present  protection  must  rest  chiefly  on  the  security  we  may 
derive  from  the  season  of  the  year  and  on  the  exertions  of  the 
people  and  of  the  State  government.  .  .  . 


90  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1792 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  February  22,  1792. 

DEAR  FRIEND, —  .  .  .  You  must  observe,  on  the  whole, 
that  for  this  year  past  we  have  not  gone  backwards,  as  we  had 
the  five  preceding,  and  that  being  the  most  difficult  part  of  any- 
thing we  might  undertake,  we  may  hope  that,  better  taught  by 
experience,  we  will  in  future  be  more  successful.  It  is  true  the 
part  of  the  country  where  we  have  fixed  our  residence  does  not 
afford  much  room  for  the  exercise  of  the  talents  we  may  possess ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  enjoy  the  advantage  in  our  poverty 
not  to  be  trampled  upon  or  even  hurt  by  the  ostentatious  display 
of  wealth.  The  American  seaports  exhibit  now  such  a  scene  of 
speculation  and  excessive  fortunes,  acquired  not  by  the  most 
deserving  members  of  the  community,  as  must  make  any  person 
who  has  yet  some  principles  left,  and  is  not  altogether  corrupted 
or  dazzled  by  the  prospect,  desirous  of  withdrawing  himself  from 
these  parts,  and  happy  to  think  he  has  a  retreat,  be  it  ever  so 
poor,  that  he  may  call  his  own.  Do  not  think,  however,  from 
what  I  now  say  that  I  am  dissatisfied  at  my  being  here ;  I  should 
not  wish  to  reside  at  Philadelphia,  but  feel  very  happy  to  stay 
in  it  a  few  months  in  the  station  I  am  now  in,  and  nothing 
would  be  wanted  to  render  this  kind  of  life  perfectly  satisfactory 
to  me  except  seeing  you  happy,  and  finding  a  home  and  a  family 
of  my  own  when  I  return  to  Fayette.  .  .  . 

As  to  ourselves  we  have  yet  done  but  little,  and  have  a  great 
deal  to  do.  We  will  this  session  pay  the  principal  of  all  our 
debts,  and  remain  rich  enough  to  go  on  three  or  four  years 
without  taxes.  We  have  a  plan  before  us,  which  I  brought 
forward,  to  establish  a  school  and  library  in  each  county ;  each 
county  to  receive  £1000  for  buildings  and  beginning  a  library, 
and  from  £75  to  £150  a  year,  according  to  its  size,  to  pay  at 
least  in  part  a  teacher  of  the  English  language  and  one  of  the 
elements  of  mathematics,  geography,  and  history.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  will  succeed ;  it  is  meant  as  a  preparatory  step  to  town- 
ship schools,  which  we  are  not  yet  rich  enough  to  establish.  I 
had  the  plan  by  me,  but  your  letter,  in  which  you  mention  the 


1792.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  91 

want  of  more  rational  teachers,  &c.,  spurred  me  in  attempting 
to  carry  it  this  session.  I  have  also  brought  forward  a  new  plan 
of  county  taxation,  but  am  not  very  satisfied  with  it  myself. 
We  are  trying  to  get  the  land  office  open  upon  generous  terms 
to  actual  settlers ;  if  we  succeed,  we  will  have  a  settlement  at 
Presqu'  Isle,  on  Lake  Erie,  within  two  years,  if  the  Indians 
permit  us.  But  the  illiberality  of  some  members  of  the  lower 
counties  throws  every  possible  objection  and  delay  in  the  way 
of  anything  which  may  be  of  advantage  to  the  western  country. 
Some,  however,  now  join  us  for  fear  that  the  other  States  should 
become  more  populous,  and  of  course  have  a  larger  representa- 
tion in  Congress  than  Pennsylvania.  We  have  thrown  out  a 
chancery  bill  a  few  days  ago,  and  are  now  attempting  to  engraft 
in  our  common  law  the  beneficial  alterations  adopted  by  the 
courts  of  equity  in  England,  without  their  delays,  proceedings 
and  double  jurisdiction,  so  as  to  have  but  one  code.  But  I 
much  doubt  our  ability  to  carry  it  into  execution ;  the  thing  is 
difficult  in  itself,  and  our  lawyers  eithe-r  unwilling  or  not  capable 
to  give  us  the  requisite  assistance.  .  .  . 

Modifications  of  the  excise  law  were  made  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Mr.  Hamilton,  but  without  pacifying  the  opposition,  and 
on  the  21st  August,  1792,  another  meeting  was  held,  this  time  at 
Pittsburg,  and  of  this  meeting  John  Canon  was  chairman  and 
Albert  Gallatin  clerk.  Among  those  present  were  David  Brad- 
ford, James  Marshall,  John  Smilie,  and  John  Badollet.  The 
meeting  appointed  David  Bradford,  James  Marshall,  Albert 
Gallatin,  and  others  to  draw  up  a  remonstrance  to  Congress. 
They  appointed  also  a  committee  of  correspondence,  and  closed 
by  reiterating  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  Washington  meeting 
of  1791.  This  resolution  is  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas,  some  men  may  be  found  among  us  so  far  lost  to 
every  sense  of  virtue  and  feeling  for  the  distresses  of  this  country 
as  to  accept  offices  for  the  collection  of  the  duty, 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  that  in  future  we  will  consider  such 
persons  as  unworthy  of  our  friendship,  have  no  intercourse  or 
dealings  with  them,  withdraw  from  them  every  assistance  and 
withhold  all  the  comforts  of  life  which  depend  upon  those  duties 


92  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1792. 

that  as  men  and  fellow-citizens  we  owe  to  each  other,  and  upon 
all  occasions  treat  them  with  that  contempt  they  deserve,  and 
that  it  be  and  it  is  hereby  most  earnestly  recommended  to  the 
people  at  large  to  follow  the  same  line  of  conduct  towards  them." 

To  these  resolutions  Mr.  Gallatin's  name  is  appended  as  clerk 
of  the  meeting.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  he  considered  them 
unwise,  and  that  they  were  adopted  against  his  judgment;  but  he 
did  not  attempt  to  throw  off  his  responsibility  for  them  on  that 
score.  In  his  speech  on  the  insurrection,  delivered  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania House  of  Representatives  in  January,  1795,  he  took 
quite  a  different  ground.  "  I  was,"  said  he,  "  one  of  the  persons 
who  composed  the  Pittsburg  meeting,  and  I  gave  my  assent  to 
the  resolutions.  It  might  perhaps  be  said  that  the  principle  of 
those  resolutions  was  not  new,  as  it  was  at  least  partially  adopted 
on  a  former  period  by  a  respectable  society  in  this  city, — a  soci- 
ety that  was  established  during  the  late  war  in  order  to  obtain 
a  change  of  the  former  constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  and  whose 
members,  if  I  am  accurately  informed,  agreed  to  accept  no  offices 
under  the  then  existing  government,  and  to  dissuade  others 
from  accepting  them.  I  might  say  that  those  resolutions  did 
not  originate  at  Pittsburg,  as  they  were  almost  a  transcript  of 
the  resolutions  adopted  at  Washington  the  preceding  year ;  and 
I  might  even  add  that  they  were  not  introduced  by  me  at  the 
meeting.  But  I  wish  not  to  exculpate  myself  where  I  feel  I 
have  been  to  blame.  The  sentiments  thus  expressed  were  not 
illegal  or  criminal ;  yet  I  will  freely  acknowledge  that  they 
were  violent,  intemperate,  and  reprehensible.  For  by  attempt- 
ing to  render  the  office  contemptible,  they  tended  to  diminish 
that  respect  for  the  execution  of  the  laws  which  is  essential  to 
the  maintenance  of  a  free  government ;  but  whilst  I  feel  regret 
at  the  remembrance,  though  no  hesitation  in  this  open  confession 
of  that  my  only  political  sin,  let  me  add  that  the  blame  ought  to 
fall  where  it  is  deserved,"  that  is  to  say,  on  the  individuals  who 
composed  the  meeting,  not  on  the  people  at  large. 

Who,  then,  was  the  person  who  introduced  these  violent  resolu- 
tions? This  is  nowhere  told,  either  by  Gallatin,  Findley,  or 
Brackenridge  in  their  several  accounts  of  the  troubles.  Perhaps 
a  guess  may  be  hazarded  that  David  Bradford  had  something  to 


1792.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  93 

do  with  them.  Bradford  was  a  lawyer  with  political  aspirations, 
and  had  seized  on  the  excise  agitation  as  a  means  of  riding  into 
power ;  as  will  be  seen,  he  was  jealous  of  Gallatin, — a  jealousy 
requited  by  contempt.  He  was  this  year  returned  by  Washing- 
ton County  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
State,  and  went  up  to  Philadelphia  with  other  delegates. 

GALLATIN   TO   THOMAS  CLARE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  December  18,  1792. 

DEAR  SIR, — We  arrived  here,  Bradford,  Smilie,  Torrence, 
Jackson,  and  myself,  the  first  Sunday  of  this  month,  all  in  good 
health,  and  have  found  our  friends  as  kind  and  even  our  oppo- 
nents as  polite  as  ever,  so  that  the  apprehensions  of  some  of  our 
fearful  friends  to  the  westward  who,  from  the  President's  procla- 
mation and  other  circumstances,  thought  it  was  almost  dangerous 
for  us  to  be  here,  were  altogether  groundless.  True  it  is  that  our 
meeting  at  Pittsburg  hurt  our  general  interest  throughout  the 
State,  and  has  rather  defeated  the  object  we  had  in  view,  to  wit, 
to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  excise  law,  as  that  law  is  now  more 
popular  than  it  was  before  our  proceedings  were  known.  To 
everybody  I  say  what  I  think  on  the  subject,  to  wit,  that  our 
resolutions  were  perhaps  too  violent,  and  undoubtedly  highly 
impolitic,  but  in  my  opinion  contained  nothing  illegal.  Indeed, 
it  seems  that  last  opinion  generally  prevails,  and  no  bills  having 
been  even  found  at  York  against  the  members  of  the  committee 
must  convince  everybody  that  our  measures  were  innocent,  and 
that  the  great  noise  that  was  made  about  them  was  chiefly,  if  not 
merely,  to  carry  on  electioneering  plans.  In  this,  however,  the 
views  of  the  high-fliers  have  been  so  completely  defeated,  and 
the  election  of  Smilie  has  disappointed  them  to  such  a  degree, 
that  I  believe  they  rather  choose  to  be  silent  on  the  subject,  and 
are  now  very  willing  to  give  us  districts  for  the  next  election.  I 
must  add  that  the  conduct  of  Clymer  has  rendered  him  obnox- 
ious to  many  of  his  own  friends  and  ridiculous  to  everybody. 
He  has  published  a  very  foolish  piece  on  the  occasion,  to  which 
Wm.  Findley  has  answered  under  the  signature  of  Monongahela; 
as  the  pieces  were  published  before  my  coming  to  town,  I  have 


94  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1792. 

not  got  the  newspapers  in  which  they  were  published,  but  I 
suppose  they  have  been  reprinted  in  the  Pittsburg  Gazette.  .  .  . 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  December  18  1792. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — I  found  on  my  arrival  here  a  letter 
from  Geneva,  dated  the  last  spring,  which  announced  to  me  the 
death  of  my  grandfather,  which  has  happened  more  than  one 
year  ago,  and  which  was  followed  a  short  time  after  by  that  of 
my  aunt, — his  only  daughter.  My  grandmother,  worn  out  by 
age  and  disorders,  had,  happily  perhaps  for  herself,  fell  in  a  state 
of  insensibility  bordering  upon  childhood,  which  rendered  those 
losses  less  painful  to  her  and  my  presence  altogether  useless  to 
her,  as  she  would  not  be  able  to  derive  much  comfort  from  it 
and  had  preserved  but  very  faint  ideas  of  me.  Yet  it  may  per- 
haps be  necessary  that  in  order  finally  to  settle  my  business  I 
should  go  over  there,  but  I  have  resolved  not  to  go  the  ensuing 
summer,  so  that  I  will  have  time  to  speak  to  you  more  largely 
on  the  subject.  My  grandfather  has  left  but  a  small  landed 
estate,  much  encumbered  with  debts.  That  and  the  settlement 
of  what  may  be  my  share  of  the  West  India  inheritance  of  my 
Amsterdam  relation  would  be  the  reasons  that  might  oblige  me 
to  go ;  the  pleasure  to  see  once  more  my  respectable  mother  would 
perhaps  be  sufficient  to  induce  me  to  take  that  'trip,  was  it  not 
that  I  think  she  would  grieve  more  at  seeing  me  setting  off  again 
for  this  country  than  she  possibly  can  now  at  my  absence.  .  .  . 

We  have  not  yet  done  any  business  here;  we  are  generally 
blamed,  by  even  our  friends,  for  the  violence  of  our  resolutions  at 
Pittsburg,  and  they  have  undoubtedly  tended  to  render  the  ex- 
cise law  more  popular  than  it  was  before.  It  is  not  perhaps  a 
bad  sign  on  the  whole  in  a  free  country  that  the  laws  should  be 
so  much  respected  as  to  render  even  the  appearance  of  an  illegal 
opposition  to  a  bad  law  obnoxious  to  the  people  at  large,  although 
I  am  still  fully  convinced  that  there  was  nothing  illegal  in  our 
measures,  and  that  the  whole  that  can  be  said  of  them  is  that 
they  were  violent  and  impolitic.  Two  bills  have  been  found  in 
the  federal  court  against  Alexander  Beer  and  Carr,  of 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  95 

the  town  of  Washington,  as  connected  with  the  riot  there.  I 
believe  them  to  be  innocent,  and  I  think  the  precedent  a  very 
dangerous  one  to  drag  people  at  such  a  distance  in  order  to  be 
tried  on  governmental  prosecutions.  I  wish,  therefore,  they  may 
keep  out  of  the  way  and  not  be  found  when  the  marshal  will  go 
to  serve  the  writ ;  but,  at  all  events,  I  hope  the  people  will  not 
suffer  themselves  to  be  so  far  governed  by  their  passions  as  to 
offer  any  insult  to  the  officer,  as  nothing  could  be  more  hurtful 
to  our  cause,  and  indeed  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  general.  It 
must  also  be  remembered  that  he  is  a  man  who  did  not  accept 
the  office  with  a  view  of  hurting  our  western  country,  but  that 
mere  accident  obliges  him  to  go  there  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  his  office.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO   THOMAS   CLARE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  9,  1793. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,—  ...  I  have  attended  but  very  little  to  the 
land  or  other  business  I  was  intrusted  with,  owing  to  the  great 
attention  I  have  been  obliged  to  pay,  much  against  my  inclina- 
tion you  may  easily  guess,  to  our  business  both  in  the  House  and 
in  committees,  owing  to  the  very  great  indolence  of  most  of  our 
members  this  year.  I  have  not,  however,  neglected  your  bill  for 
Dublin,  which  I  got  at  par.  We  have  now  got  to  work  in 
earnest,  and  I  believe  three  weeks  will  finish  the  whole  of  our 
business,  but  I  will  be  obliged  to  stay  some  time  longer  in  order 
to  complete  the  private  business  of  other  people.  You  will  see 
by  the  enclosed  papers  that  the  whole  world  is  in  a  flame, — Eng- 
land ready  to  make  war  against  France,  Ireland  ready  to  assert 
her  own  rights,  &c.  As  to  our  private  news,  I  can  tell  you  that 
three  commissioners  are  appointed  to  treat  with  the  Indians, — 
General  Lincoln,  Tim.  Pickering,  and  Beverly  Randolph ;  what 
they  can  possibly  do  nobody  pretends  to  say,  but  every  person 
seems  tired  of  Indian  wars;  about  twelve  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year  might  be  better  employed ;  but  I  do  not  like  the 
idea  of  a  disgraceful  peace. 

You  will  see  by  the  papers  that  I  am  elected  one  of  the  Sen- 
ators to  represent  this  State  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 


96  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIK  1793, 

an  appointment  which  has  exceedingly  mortified  the  high-fliers, 
but  which,  notwithstanding  its  importance,  I  sincerely  wish  had 
not  taken  place  for  more  reasons  than  I  can  write  at  present,  but 
Gappen  may  give  you  some  details  relative  to  that  point  until  I 
have  the  pleasure  to  see  you  myself.  It  will  be  enough  to  say 
that  none  of  my  friends  wished  it,  and  that  they  at  last  consented 
to  take  me  up  because  it  was  nearly  impossible  to  carry  any  other 
person  of  truly  Republican  principles.  The  votes  were,  for  my- 
self, 45 ;  for  Henry  Miller,  of  York,  35 ;  for  General  Irvine,  1 ; 
and  for  General  St.  Clair,  1  ;  absent  members,  5. 

.  .  .  Congress  died  away  last  Sunday ;  our  friends  will  have  a 
majority  of  ten  or  fifteen  votes  in  the  next,  so  that  if  the  Indian 
war  is  at  an  end,  I  am  not  without  hopes  to  see  the  excise  law 
repealed.  .  .  .  Poor  Bradford  makes  but  a  poor  figure  in  our 
Legislature.  Tenth-rate  lawyers  are  the  most  unfit  people  to  send 
there.  He  has  done  nothing  but  drafting  a  fee  bill,  which  is 
not  worth  a  farthing  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  9th  March,  1793. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter,  which  has 
pleased  me  exceedingly,  on  account  both  of  the  sentiments  it 
contains  and  of  the  situation  of  mind  it  seems  to  show  you  are 
in.  May  you  long  remain  so,  and  enjoy  that  happiness  which 
depends  more  upon  ourselves  than  we  are  commonly  aware  of. 
I  wrote  you,  I  believe,  that  I  had  some  thoughts  of  going  to 
Geneva  this  summer,  in  order  to  try  to  settle  finally  my  business 
there ;  but  I  can  assure  you  nothing  was  more  remote  from  my 
mind  than  finally  to  fix  there.  Your  supposing  that  if  a  change 
of  government  was  to  take  place  there  I  might  be  of  use,  shows 
your  good  opinion  of  me,  but  not  your  knowledge  of  men ;  for 
you  may  rely  upon  it  that  opportunity  and  circumstances  will 
have  more  influence  towards  giving  weight  to  a  man,  and  of 
course  rendering  him  useful,  than  his  talents  alone ;  and,  grant- 
ing I  have  some  in  politics,  I  think  at  Geneva  they  would  be 
of  no  use,  as  prejudices  would  there  strongly  operate  against 
me.  A  complete  revolution,  however,  has  taken  place  there. 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  97 

Hardly  had  the  Swiss  troops  left  Geneva,  in  conformity  with  the 
agreement  made  with  France,  when  the  looks,  the  discourse,  and 
the  rising  commotions  of  the  mass  of  the  people  began  to  fore- 
tell a  storm.  The  magistrates  for  once  were  wise  enough  to 
avert  it  by  yielding  before  it  was  too  late.  An  almost  unanimous 
vote  of  the  three  councils  has  extended  the  right  of  citizenship 
to  every  native,  and  has  given  a  representation  to  the  people, 
who  are  now  acting  under  the  name  of  Genevan  Assembly.  I 
believe  that  fear  of  the  people  joining  France  has  been  the  real 
motive  which  has  induced  their  proud  aristocracy  at  last  to  bend 
their  necks. 

I  have  found  myself,  however,  obliged  to  lay  aside  my  plan 
of  an  European  trip.  The  two  Houses  of  Assembly  having  at 
last  agreed  to  choose  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  by  joint 
vote,  I  have  been  elected  from  necessity  rather  than  from  the 
wishes  of  our  friends,  and  although  there  is  yet  a  doubt  whether 
I  will  take  my  seat  there,  I  cannot  run  the  risk  of  being  absent  at 
the  next  meeting  of  Congress.  .  .  .  Your  Bradford  is  an  empty 
drum,  as  ignorant,  indolent,  and  insignificant  as  he  is  haughty 
and  pompous.  I  do  not  think  he'll  wish  himself  to  come  another 
year,  for  his  vanity  must  be  mortified  on  account  of  the  poor 
figure  he  has  been  cutting  here.  .  .  . 

We  have  before  us  a  militia  law,  a  fee  bill,  a  law  to  reduce 
the  price  of  improved  lands,  a  new  system  of  county  taxation, 
where  I  have  introduced  trustees  yearly  elected,  one  to  each 
township,  without  whose  consent  no  tax  is  to  be  raised,  nor  any 
above  one  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  lands,  &c.,  which  I  hope, 
if  carried,  will,  by  uniting  the  people,  tend  to  crush  the  aris- 
tocracy of  every  petty  town  in  the  State;  also,  a  plan  for 
schools,  &c.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO   THOMAS   CLARE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  3d  May,  1793. 

.  .  .  You  must  have  heard  that  I  cannot  go  home  this  sum- 
mer ;  the  reason  is  that  Mr.  Nicholson,  the  comptroller-general, 
having  been  impeached  by  the  House  for  misdemeanor  in  office, 
it  was  thought  proper  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  members 

7 


98  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1793. 

to  investigate  all  his  official  accounts  and  transactions  during  the 
recess,  and  to  report  to  the  House  at  their  next  meeting,  which 
will  be  the  27th  of  August.  I  am  one  of  the  committee,  and 
the  business  we  are  to  report  on  is  so  complex  and  extensive, 
that  it  will  take  us  the  whole  of  the  recess  to  do  it  even  in  an 
imperfect  manner. 

As  these  letters  show,  Mr.  Gallatin  left  the  western  country  at 
the  beginning  of  December,  1792,  passed  his  winter  in  Phila- 
delphia, laboring  over  legislation  of  an  almost  entirely  non- 
partisan  character,  and  was  still  detained  in  Philadelphia  by 
public  business  during  the  summer  of  1793.  From  the  time 
of  his  leaving  home,  in  December,  1792,  till  the  time  of  his 
next  return  there,  in  May,  1794,  his  mind  was  occupied  in 
matters  much  more  attractive  than  the  tax  on  whiskey  ever 
could  have  been. 

In  fact,  his  opposition  to  the  excise  and  his  strong  republican 
sympathies  did  not  prevent  his  election  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  by  a  Federalist  Legislature,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  he  did  not  seek  the  post  and  his  closer  friends  did  not 
seek  it  for  him.  At  the  caucus  held  to  select  a  candidate  for 
Senator,  when  his  name  was  proposed,  he  made  a  short  speech 
to  the  effect  that  there  were  many  other  persons  more  proper  to 
fill  the  office,  and  indeed  that  it  was  a  question  whether  he  was 
eligible,  owing  to  the  doubt  whether  he  had  been  nine  years  a 
citizen.  His  reasons  for  not  wishing  the  election  are  nowhere 
given,  but  doubtless  one  of  the  strongest  was  that  the  distinction 
was  invidious  and  that  it  was  likely  to  make  him  more  enemies 
than  friends.  His  objection  as  to  citizenship  was  overruled  by 
the  caucus  at  its  next  meeting.  He  was  accordingly  chosen 
Senator  on  the  28th  February,  under  circumstances  peculiarly 
honorable  to  him,  by  a  vote  of  45  to  37 ;  yet  one  member  of  his 
party — a  member,  too,  from  the  county  of  Washington — refused 
to  support  him,  and  threw  away  his  vote  on  General  Irvine. 
This  was  David  Bradford,  who  from  the  beginning  of  Mr. 
Gallatin's  political  career  was  uniformly,  openly,  and  personally 
hostile  to  him,  from  motives,  as  the  latter  believed,  of  mere  envy 
and  vanity;  such  at  least  is  the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Gal- 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801.  99 

latin  himself  in  a  note  written  on  the  margin  of  p.  104  in 
Brackenridge's  "  Incidents  of  the  Insurrection." 

Other  matters,  however,  soon  began  to  engage  Mr.  Gallatin's 
thoughts,  and  made  even  the  Senatorship  and  politics  less  in- 
teresting than  heretofore.  Immediately  after  the  Legislature 
adjourned  he  joined  his  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dallas  on  an 
excursion  to  Albany. 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  30th  July,  1793. 

.  .  .  And  so  you  have  a  woman-like  curiosity  to  know  what 
took  me  to  Albany.  Instinct  (I  beg  your  pardon)  dictated  that 
expression  to  you,  for  there  was  a  woman  in  the  way,  or  rather 
she  fell  in  the  way.  I  went  merely  upon  an  excursion  of  pleas- 
ure, in  order  to  get  a  little  diversion  and  to  recover  my  health, 
which  so  long  confinement  and  so  strict  an  attention  to  business 
had  rather  impaired.  Dallas,  his  wife  and  another  friend,  and 
myself  went  together  to  Passyack  Falls,  in  New  Jersey,  to  New 
York,  and  thence  by  water  up  to  Albany,  looked  at  the  Mohock 
Falls,  and  returned,  highly  delighted  with  our  journey,  which 
took  us  near  four  weeks.  I  recovered  my  health,  and  have  not 
felt  myself  better  these  many  years.  But  at  New  York  I  got 
acquainted  with  some  ladies,  friends  of  Mrs.  Dallas,  who  were 
prevailed  upon  to  go  along  with  us  to  Albany;  and  amongst 
them  there  was  one  who  made  such  an  impression  on  me  that 
after  my  arrival  here  I  could  not  stay  long  without  returning  to 
New  York,  from  whence  I  have  been  back  only  a  few  days.  I 
believe  the  business  to  be  fixed,  and  (but  for  some  reasons  this 
must  remain  a  secret  to  anybody  but  Savary,  Clare,  and  your- 
self) I  know  you  will  be  happy  in  hearing  that  I  am  contracted 
with  a  girl  about  twenty-five  years  old,  who  is  neither  handsome 
nor  rich,  but  sensible,  well-informed,  good-natured,  and  belong- 
ing to  a  respectable  and  very  amiable  family,  who,  I  believe,  are 
satisfied  with  the  intended  match.  However,  for  some  reasons 
of  convenience,  it  will  not  take  place  till  next  winter.  .  .  . 

The  young  lady  in  question  was  Hannah  Nicholson,  and  the 


100  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  A  TIN.  1793. 

characteristic  self-restraint  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  language  in  de- 
scribing her  to  his  friend  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  warmth 
of  affection  which  he  then  felt,  and  ever  retained,  towards  one 
whose  affection  and  devotion  to  him  during  more  than  half  a 
century  were  unbounded.  Of  Mr.  Gallatin's  domestic  life  from 
this  time  forward  little  need  be  said.  His  temper,  his  tastes, 
and  his  moral  convictions  combined  to  make  him  thoroughly 
dependent  on  his  wife  and  his  children.  He  was  never  happy 
when  separated  from  them,  and  he  received  from  them  in  return 
an  unlimited  and  unqualified  regard. 

Hannah  Nicholson  was  the  daughter  of  Commodore  James 
Nicholson,  born  in  1737  at  Chester  Town,  on  the  Eastern  Shore 
of  Maryland,  of  a  respectable  family  in  that  province.  He  chose 
to  follow  the  sea  for  a  profession,  and  did  so  with  enough  success 
to  cause  Congress  in  1775,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  captains.  In  1778 
he  took  command  of  the  Trumbull,  a  frigate  of  thirty-two  guns, 
and  fought  in  her  an  action  with  the  British  ship-of-war  Wyatt, 
which,  next  to  that  of  Paul  Jones  with  the  Serapis,  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  most  desperate  of  the  war.  After  a  three  hours' 
engagement  both  ships  were  obliged  to  draw  off  and  make  port  as 
best  they  could.  On  a  subsequent  cruise  Commodore  Nicholson 
had  another  engagement  of  the  same  severe  character,  which  ended 
in  the  approach  of  a  second  English,  cruiser,  and  after  the  loss 
of  three  lieutenants  and  a  third  of  her  crew  the  Trumbull  was 
towed  a  prize  into  New  York  harbor  without  a  mast  standing. 
In  1793>  Commodore  Nicholson  was  living  in  New  York,  a 
respectable,  somewhat  choleric,  retired  naval  captain,  with  a 
large  family,  and  in  good  circumstances.  He  had  two  brothers, 
Samuel  and  John,  both  captains  in  the  naval  service  during  the 
Revolution.  Samuel  was  a  lieutenant  with  Paul  Jones  on  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  died  at  the  head  of  the  service  in 
1811 ;  he  had  four  sons  in  the  navy,  and  his  brother  John  had 
three.  Eighteen  members  of  this  family  have  served  in  the 
navy  of  the  United  States,  three  of  whom  actually  wore  broad 
pennants,  and  a  fourth  died  just  as  he  was  appointed  to  one.1 

1  Cooper's  Naval  History,  vol.  i.  p.  226. 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  1Q1 

One  brother,  Joseph,  resided  in  Baltimore,  and  among  his 
children  was  Joseph  H.  Nicholson,  of  whom  more  will  be  said 
hereafter. 

Commodore  Nicholson  married  Frances  Witter,  of  New  York, 
and  their  second  child,  Hannah,  was  born  there  on  .the  llth 
September,  1766.  The  next  daughter  was  Catherine,  who  mar- 
ried Colonel  Few,  the  first  Senator  from  Georgia.  A  third, 
Frances,  married  Joshua  Seney,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Maryland.  Maria,  the  youngest,  in  1793  an  attractive  and 
ambitious  girl,  ultimately  married  John  Montgomery,  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Maryland  and  mayor  of  Baltimore.  Thus 
Mr.  Gallatin's  marriage  prodigiously  increased  his  political  con- 
nection. Commodore  Nicholson  was  an  active  Republican  poli- 
tician in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  his  house  was  a  head-quarters 
for  the  men  of  his  way  of  thinking.  The  young  ladies'  letters 
are  full  of  allusions  to  the  New  York  society  of  that  day,  and 
to  calls  from  Aaron  Burr,  the  Livingstons,  the  Clintons,  and 
many  others,  accompanied  by  allusions  anything  but  friendly  to 
Alexander  Hamilton.  Another  man  still  more  famous  in  some 
respects  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  their  house.  It  is  now  almost 
forgotten  that  Thomas  Paine,  down  to  the  time  of  his  departure 
for  Europe  in  1787,  was  a  fashionable  member  of  society,  ad- 
mired and  courted  as  the  greatest  literary  genius  of  his  day. 
His  aberrations  had  not  then  entirely  sunk  him  in  public  esteem. 
Here  is  a  little  autograph,  found  among  the  papers  of  Mrs* 
Gal  latin ;  its  address  is  to 

Miss  Hannah  Nicholson 

at 
The  Lord  knows  where. 

You  Mrs.  Hannah,  if  you  don't  come  home,  I'll  come  and 
fetch  you. 

T.  PAINE. 

But  both  Mrs.  Nicholson  and  the  Commodore  were  religious 
people,  in  the  American  sense  as  well  as  in  the  broader  meaning 
of  the  term.  They  were  actively  as  well  as  passively  religious, 


102  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1793. 

and  their  relations  with  Paine,  after  his  return  to  America 
in  1802,  were  those  of  compassion  only,  for  his  intemperate 
and  offensive  habits,  as  well  as  his  avowed  opinions,  made 
intimacy  impossible.  When  confined  to  his  bed  with  his  last 
illness  he  sent  for  Mrs.  Few,  who  came  to  see  him,  and  when 
they  parted  she  spoke  some  words  of  comfort  and  religious 
hope.  Poor  Paine  only  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  kept 
silence. 

When  Mr.  Gallatin  came  into  the  family  Paine  was  in  Europe. 
Party  spirit  had  not  yet  been  strained  to  fury  by  the  French 
excesses  and  by  Jay's  treaty.  In  this  short  interval  fortune 
smiled  on  the  young  man  as  it  never  had  smiled  before.  He 
had  at  length  and  literally  found  his  way  out  of  the  woods  in 
which  he  had  buried  himself  with  so  much  care ;  he  was  popu- 
lar ;  a  United  States  Senator  at  the  age  of  thirty -three ;  adopted 
into  a  new  family  that  received  him  with  unreserved  cordiality 
and  attached  him  by  connection  and  interest  to  the  active  intel- 
lectual movement  of  a  great  city.  Revelling  in  these  new 
sensations,  he  thought  little  about  Geneva  or  about  Fayette, 
and  let  his  correspondence,  except  with  Miss  Nicholson,  more 
than  ever  take  care  of  itself. 

The  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  of  which  he 
was  still  a  member,  recalled  him  to  business ;  but  his  story  may 
now  be  best  gathered  from  his  letters  to  his  future  wife : 

GALLATIN  TO  MISS  NICHOLSON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  25th  July,  1793. 

.  .  .  For  four  years  I  have  led  a  life  very  different  indeed 
from  what  I  was  wont  to  follow.  Looking  with  equal  indiffer- 
ence upon  every  pleasure  of  life,  upon  every  object  that  can 
render  life  worth  enjoying,  and,  of  course,  upon  every  woman, 
lost  in  a  total  apathy  for  everything  which  related  to  myself, 
alive  only  to  politics  (for  an  active  mind  must  exert  itself  in 
some  shape  or  another),  I  had  become  perfectly  careless  of  my 
own  business  or  my  private  fortune.  .  .  .  Of  course  I  led  the 
most  active  life  as  a  public  man,  the  most  indolent  as  an  in- 
dividual. 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  1Q3 

27th  August,  1793. 

.  .  .  And  yet  you  think  that  I  can  improve  you.  Except 
some  information  upon  a  few  useful  subjects  which  you  have  not 
perhaps  turned  your  attention  to,  I  will  be  but  a  poor  instructor. 
Women  are  said  generally  to  receive  from  a  familiar  intercourse 
with  men  several  advantages,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  of 
which  I  have  often  heard  asserted  to  be  the  acquirement  of  a 
greater  knowledge  of  the  world,  in  which  they  are  supposed  to 
live  less  than  our  bustling  sex.  There,  however,  I  am  but  a 
child,  and  will  have  to  receive  instruction  from  you,  for  most  of 
my  life  has  been  spent  very  far  indeed  from  anything  like  the 
polite  part  of  the  world.  I  had  but  left  college  when  I  left 
Geneva,  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  time  I  have  spent  in  America 
has  been  very  far  from  society,  at  least  from  that  society  I  would 
have  relished.  Thence,  although  I  feel  no  embarrassment  with 
men,  I  never  yet  was  able  to  divest  myself  of  that  anti-Ches- 
terfieldan  awkwardness  in  mixed  companies  which  will  forever 
prevent  a  man  from  becoming  a  party  in  the  societies  where  he 
mixes.  It  is  true  the  four  last  years,  on  account  of  my  residence 
in  Philadelphia,  I  might  have  improved,  but  I  felt  no  wish  of 
doing  it ;  so  that  whilst  I  will  teach  you  either  history,  French, 
or  anything  else  I  can  teach  or  you  wish  to  learn,  I  will  have  to 
receive  far  more  important  instructions  from  you.  You  must 
polish  my  manners,  teach  me  how  to  talk  to  people  I  do  not 
know,  and  how  to  render  myself  agreeable  to  strangers, — I  was 
going  to  say,  to  ladies, — but  as  I  pleased  you  without  any  in- 
structions, I  have  become  very  vain  on  that  head.  .  .  . 

25th  August,  1793. 

.  .  .  Well,  my  charming  patriot,  why  do  you  write  me  about 
politics?  ...  I  believe  that,  except  a  very  few  intemperate,  un- 
thinking, or  wicked  men,  no  American  wishes  to  see  his  country 
involved  in  war.  As  to  myself,  I  think  every  war  except  a 
defensive  one  to  be  unjustifiable.  We  are  not  attacked  by  any 
nation,  and  unless  we  were  actually  so,  or  had  undeniable  proofs 
that  we  should  be  in  a  very  short  time,  we  should  be  guilty  of  a 
political  and  moral  crime  were  we  to  commence  a  war  or  to  behave 
so  as  to  justify  any  nation  in  attacking  us.  As  to  the  present 


104  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1793. 

cause  of  France,  although  I  think  that  they  have  been  guilty  of 
many  excesses,  that  they  have  many  men  amongst  them  who  are 
greedy  of  power  for  themselves  and  not  of  liberty  for  the  nation, 
and  that  in  their  present  temper  they  are  not  likely  to  have  a 
very  good  government  within  any  short  time,  yet  I  firmly  believe 
their  cause  to  be  that  of  mankind  against  tyrants,  and,  at  all 
events,  that  no  foreign  nation  has  a  right  to  dictate  a  government 
to  them.  So  far  I  think  we  are  interested  in  their  success ;  and 
as  to  our  political  situation,  they  are  certainly  the  only  real  allies 
we  have  yet  had.  I  wish  Great  Britain  and  Spain  may  both 
change  their  conduct  towards  us  and  show  that  they  mean  to  be 
our  friends,  but  till  then  no  event  could  be  more  unfavorable  to 
our  national  independence  than  the  annihilation  of  the  power 
of  France  or  her  becoming  dependent  upon  either  of  those  two 
powers.  Yet,  considering  our  not  being  attacked  and  our  weak- 
ness in  anything  but  self-defence,  I  conceive  we  should  be  satisfied 
with  a  strict  adherence  to  all  our  treaties  whether  with  France  or 
with  other  powers.  That  is  certainly  the  object  of  the  President, 
and  the  only  difficulty  that  has  arisen  between  him  and  Mr.  Genet 
is  upon  the  construction  of  some  articles  of  the  treaty  with  France. 
So  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  interpreta- 
tion given  by  the  President  is  the  right  one,  and  I  guess  that 
although  Mr.  Genet  is  a  man  of  abilities  and  of  firmness,  he  is 
not  endowed  with  that  prudence  and  command  of  his  temper 
which  might  have  enabled  him  to  change  the'  opinion  of  our 
Executive  in  those  points  where  they  might  be  in  the  wrong. 
I  have,  however,  strong  reasons  to  believe  that  Messrs.  Jay  and 
King  were  misinformed  in  the  point  on  which  they  gave  their 
certificate.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think  that  unless  France  or  Eng- 
land attack  us  we  shall  have  no  war,  and  of  either  of  them  doing 
it  I  have  no  apprehension.  .  .  .  Please  to  remember  that  my 
politics  are  only  for  you.  Except  in  my  public  character  I  do 
not  like  to  speak  on  the  subject,  although  I  believe  you  will  agree 
with  me  that  I  need  not  be  ashamed  of  my  sentiments;  but 
moderation  is  not  fashionable  just  now.  .  .  .  This  city  is  now 
violently  alarmed,  more  indeed  than  they  should,  on  account  of 
some  putrid  fevers  which  have  made  their  appearance  in  Water 
Street.  I  mention  this  because  I  suppose  you  will  read  it  in  the 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  1Q5 

newspapers,  and  I  want  to  inform  you  that  I  live  in  the  most 
healthy  part  of  the  city,  and  the  most  distant  from  the  infection. 

29th  August,  1793. 

.  .  .  The  alarm  is  greater  than  I  could  have  conceived  it  to 
be,  and  although  there  is  surely  so  far  this  foundation  for  it,  that 
a  very  malignant  and,  to  all  appearances,  infectious  fever  has 
carried  away  about  forty  persons  in  a  week,  yet,  when  we  con- 
sider the  great  population  of  this  city  and  that  the  disease  is  yet 
local,  I  believe  that  with  proper  care  it  might  be  checked,  whilst, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  fears  of  people  will  undoubtedly  tend  to 
spread  it.  Our  Legislature  are  very  much  alarmed.  I  believe 
that  if  it  was  not  for  the  comptroller's  impeachment  they  would 
adjourn  at  once ;  and  as  it  is,  they  may  possibly  remove  to  Ger- 
mantown.  .  .  . 

2d  September,  1793. 

I  feel,  my  beloved  friend,  very  much  depressed  this  evening. 
My  worthy  friend  Dr.  Hutchinson  lies  now  dangerously  ill  with 
the  malignant  fever  that  prevails  here,  and  it  is  said  the  crisis  of 
this  night  must  decide  his  fate.  He  was  the  boldest  physician  in 
this  city,  and  from  his  unremitted  attention  to  the  duties  of  his 
profession,  both  as  physician  of  the  port  and  as  practitioner,  he 
has  caught  the  infection,  and  such  is  the  nature  of  that  fatal  dis- 
order that  his  best  friends,  except  his  family  and  the  necessary 
attendants,  cannot  go  near  him.  His  death  would  be  a  grievous 
stroke  to  his  family,  who  are  supported  altogether  by  his  indus- 
try, to  his  friends,  to  whom  he  was  endeared  by  every  social  virtue, 
and,  indeed,  to  his  country,  who  had  not  a  better  nor  more  active 
friend.  From  his  extensive  information  I  had  many  times 
derived  the  greatest  assistance,  and  his  principles,  his  integrity, 
and  the  warmth  of  his  affection  for  me  had  attached  me  to  him 
more  than  to  any  other  man  in  Philadelphia.  .  .  .  The  disorder, 
although  it  has  not  yet  attacked  those  who  use  proper  cautions,  is 
rather  increasing  in  the  poorer  class  of  people,  who  are  obliged  to 
follow  their  daily  industry  in  every  part  of  the  town,  who  are 
less  cautious  and  perhaps  less  cleanly  than  others,  and  who  can- 
not use  bark,  wine,  and  other  preventives,  whose  price  is  above 
their  faculties.  The  corporation  have,  however,  taken  precau- 


106  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  A  TIN.  1793. 

tions  to  prevent  their  spreading  the  disorder  and  to  provide  for 
their  being  properly  attended.  Hamilton's  house  at  Bush  Hill 
is  converted  into  an  hospital  for  that  purpose.  The  members  of 
the  Legislature  are  so  much  alarmed  and  so  unfit  to  attend  to 
business  that  I  believe  it  is  not  improbable  they  will  adjourn  this 
week,  and  the  time  of  the  election  being  so  very  near,  they  will, 
I  guess,  adjourn  sine  die.  If  that  happens,  my  intention  is  to 
go  immediately  to  New  York.  ...  I  will  not  dissemble  that, 
although  I  feel  it  was  of  some  importance  that  some  public  busi- 
ness should  have  been  finished  whilst  I  was  in  the  Legislature 
(I  write  to  you  what  I  would  say  to  no  other  person),  and 
although  it  is  not  impossible  that  by  using  proper  exertions  the 
Assembly  might  have  been  prevented  from  breaking  up,  I  have 
felt  more  alarmed  than  I  thought  myself  liable  to,  as  much 
indeed  as  most  of  my  fellow-members,  and  have  not  attempted 
anything  to  inspire  the  members  with  a  courage  I  did  not  feel 
myself.  Can  you  guess  at  the  reason  ?  Yet  I  trust  that  if  I 
thought  it  an  absolute  duty  to  stay  I  should  not  suffer  even  love 
to  get  the  better  of  that.  Indeed,  I  know  you  would  not  like 
me  the  better  for  making  myself  unworthy  of  you,  and  if  there 
is  any  hesitation  or  any  division  upon  the  subject,  I  think,  unless 
some  new  argument  prevails  with  me,  that  I  will  vote  against 
the  adjournment,  but  if  everybody  agrees  it  is  best  to  go,  I  will 
throw  no  objection  in  the  way.  So  much  for  my  fortitude, 
which  you  see  is  not  greater  than  it  ought  to  be.'  .  .  . 

4th  September,  1793. 

.  .  .  Yesterday  I  was  appointed  a  member  of  a  committee 
to  confer  with  a  committee  of  the  Senate  upon  the  expediency  of 
an  adjournment,  so  that  I  had  to  take  an  active  part  upon  that 
very  subject  which  of  all  I  wished  to  be  decided  by  others.  Will 
it  please  you  to  hear  that  I  urged  every  reason  against  an  ad- 
journment that  I  could  think  of?  If  that  does  not  afford  you 
much  satisfaction,  it  will  perhaps  relieve  you  to  know  that  at  the 
same  time  I  was  almost  wishing  that  my  arguments  might  have 
no  effect.  Whether  it  arose  from  that  cause  or  not  I  do  not 
know,  but  my  eloquence  was  thrown  away  upon  the  Senate,  and 
they  immediately  after  resolved  that  they  would  adjourn  to-day. 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  1Q7 

Of  that  resolution,  however,  we  have  in  our  house  taken  no 
notice;  but  this  afternoon  the  Senate  have  resolved  that  they 
would  not  try  the  comptroller's  impeachment  this  session,  and  as 
they  are  the  only  judges  of  that  point,  inasmuch  as  we  cannot 
oblige  them  to  fix  any  earlier  period,  and  as  that  was  the  only 
business  of  sufficient  importance  to  detain  us,  I  rather  believe 
that  our  house  will  agree  to  adjourn  to-morrow,  as  the  whole 
blame  of  it,  if  any,  will  fall  upon  the  Senate.  If  that  takes 
place,  you  will  easily  believe  that  I  do  not  mean  to  stay  long 
here.  ...  I  feel  much  happier  than  I  did  two  days  ago.  Dr. 
Hutch inson  is  much  better,  though  not  yet  out  of  danger.1  .  .  . 
The  symptoms  of  the  raging  fever  are  said  to  be  milder  than  at 
first.  Several  have  escaped  or  are  in  a  fair  way  of  recovering 
who  had  been  attacked,  although  there  was  no  instance  a  few 
days  ago  of  any  person  once  infected  being  saved.  The  number 
of  sick  and  that  of  deaths  are  still  considerable,  but  although  the 
first  has  not  diminished,  the  last,  I  believe,  has ;  and  there  is  less 
alarm  amongst  the  citizens  than  there  was  a  few  days  ago.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN  TO  BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  1st  February,  1794. 

MY  DEAR  FKIEND, — I  was  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  writing 
you  sooner  by  Major  Heaton  not  calling  on  me,  nor  giving  me 
notice  of  the  time  of  his  departure ;  I  hope,  however,  that  not- 
withstanding your  complaints,  you  know  me  too  well  to  have 
ascribed  my  silence  to  forgetfulness  or  want  of  friendship ;  but, 
without  any  further  apologies,  let  me  proceed  to  answering  your 
letter,  which,  by  the  by,  is  the  only  one  I  have  received  of  you 
since  I  let  you  know,  in  last  August,  that  I  was  in  expectation 
of  getting  married  after  a  while.  Now  for  my  history  since 
that  time.  The  dreadful  calamity  which  has  afflicted  this  city 
had  spread  such  an  alarm  at  the  time  when  the  Assembly  met, 
that  our  August  session  was  a  mere  scene  of  confusion,  and  we 
adjourned  the  6th  of  September.  The  next  day  I  set  off  for 
New  York,  according  to  contract ;  it  was  agreed  that  I  should 

1  Dr.  Hutch  inson  died  on  the  6th. 


108  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1793. 

go  and  spend  a  week  there,  and  from  thence  go  to  Fayette 
County,  where  I  was  to  remain  till  December,  and  then  upon 
my  return  here  we  were  to  fix  the  time  of  our  union.  As  I 
expected  to  be  only  a  week  absent,  I  left  all  my  papers,  clothes, 
patents,  money,  &c.,  in  Philadelphia ;  but  on  my  arrival  at  New 
York,  and  after  I  had  been  there  a  few  days,  the  disorder  in- 
creased to  such  a  degree  in  Philadelphia,  it  became  so  difficult 
to  leave  that  city  if  you  were  once  in  it,  and  the  terrors  were  so 
much  greater  at  a  distance,  that  I  was  easily  prevailed  upon  not 
to  return  here,  although  I  was  wishing  to  go  nevertheless  to 
Fayette,  which  I  could  have  done,  as  I  had  left  my  horse  in 
Bucks  County.  Three  weeks,  however,  elapsed  without  my 
perceiving  time  was  running  away,  and  I  was  in  earnest  pre- 
paring to  set  off,  when  I  fell  sick,  a  violent  headache,  fever,  &c. ; 
the  symptoms  would  have  put  me  on  the  list  of  the  yellow  fever 
sick  had  I  been  in  Philadelphia,  and  although  I  had  been  absent 
three  weeks  from  thence,  the  alarm  had  increased  so  much  at 
New  York,  that  it  was  thought  that,  if  the  people  knew  of  my 
disorder,  they  might  insist  on  my  being  carried  to  a  temporary 
hospital  erected  on  one  of  the  islands  of  the  harbor,  which  was 
far  from  being  a  comfortable  place.  Under  those  circumstances 
Commodore  Nicholson  (at  present  my  father-in-law)  would  have 
me  to  be  removed  to  his  house,  where  I  was  most  tenderly 
attended  and  nursed,  and  very  soon  recovered.  It  was  then  too 
late  to  think  of  going  home  before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  and 
being  under  the  same  roof  we  agreed  to  complete  our  union,  and 
were  accordingly  married  on  the  llth  of  November.  And  now 
I  suppose  you  want  to  know  what  kind  of  a  wife  I  have  got. 
Having  been  married  near  three  months,  my  description  will  not 
be  as  romantic  as  it  would  have  been  last  fall ;  but  I  do  not 
know  but  what  it  may  still  be  partial,  if  we  feel  so  in  favor  of 
those  we  love.  Her  person  is,  in  my  opinion,  far  less  attractive 
than  either  her  mind  or  her  heart,  and  yet  I  do  not  wish  her  to 
have  any  other  but  that  she  has  got,  for  I  think  I  can  read  in 
her  face  the  expression  of  her  soul ;  and  as  to  her  shape  and 
size  you  know  my  taste,  and  she  is  exactly  formed  on  that  scale. 
She  was  twenty-six  when  I  married  her.  She  is  possessed  of 
the  most  gentle  disposition,  and  has  an  excellent  heart.  Her 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  1Q9 

understanding  is  good ;  she  is  as  well  informed  as  most  young 
ladies;  she  is  perfectly  simple  and  unaffected;  she  loves  me, 
and  she  is  a  pretty  good  democrat  (and  so,  by  the  by,  are  all 
her  relations).  But,  then,  is  there  no  reverse  to  that  medal? 
Yes,  indeed,  one,  and  a  pretty  sad  one.  She  is  what  you  will 
call  a  city  belle.  She  never  in  her  life  lived  out  of  a  city,  and 
there  she  has  always  lived  in  a  sphere  where  she  has  contracted 
or  should  have  contracted  habits  not  very  well  adapted  to  a 
country  life,  and  specially  to  a  Fayette  County  life.  This  I 
knew  before  marriage,  and  my  situation  she  also  knew.  Never- 
theless, we  have  concluded  that  we  would  be  happier  united  than 
separated,  and  this  spring  you  will  see  us  in  Fayette,  where  you 
will  be  able  to  judge  for  yourself.  As  to  fortune,  she  is,  by  her 
grandfather's  will,  entitled  to  one-sixth  part  of  his  estate  at  her 
mother's  death  (and  what  that  is  I  do  not  know) ;  but  at  present 
she  receives  only  three  hundred  pounds,  New  York  money.  To 
return,  I  attended  Congress  at  their  meeting,  and  upon  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dallas's  invitation  I  brought  Mrs.  Gallatin  to  this  place 
about  the  latter  end  of  December,  and  have  remained  at  their 
house  ever  since.  I  believe  I  wrote  you,  at  the  time  of  my 
being  elected  a  Senator,  that  the  election  would  probably  be 
disputed.  This  has,  agreeable  to  my  expectation,  taken  place, 
which  arises  from  my  having  expressed  doubts,  prior  to  my 
election,  whether  I  had  been  a  citizen  nine  years.  The  point  as 
a  legal  one  is  a  nice  and  difficult  one,  and  I  believe  it  will  be 
decided  as  party  may  happen  to  carry.  On  that  ground  it  is 
likely  I  may  lose  my  seat,  as  in  Senate  the  majority  is  against 
us  in  general. 

I  believe  I  have  told  you  now  everything  of  any  importance 
relative  to  myself.  By  the  enclosed  you  will  see  that  your 
brother  is  safe  at  Jeremie,  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
British.  Who  has  been  right  or  in  the  wrong  in  the  lamentable 
scene  of  Hispaniola  nobody  can  tell ;  but  to  view  the  subject  in- 
dependent of  the  motives  and  conduct  of  the  agent  who  may  have 
brought  on  the  present  crisis,  I  see  nothing  but  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  slavery.  For  the  whites  to  expect  mercy  either  from 
mulattoes  or  negroes  is  absurd,  and  whilst  we  may  pity  the  mis- 
fortune of  the  present  generation  of  the  whites  of  that  island,  in 


HO  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1793. 

which,  undoubtedly,  many  innocent  victims  have  been  involved, 
can  we  help  acknowledging  that  calamity  to  be  the  just  punish- 
ment of  the  crimes  of  so  many  generations  of  slave-traders  and 
slave-holders  ?  As  to  our  general  politics,  I  send  you,  by  Jack- 
son, the  correspondence  between  our  government  and  the  French 
and  British  ministers,  which  will  give  you  a  better  idea  of  our 
situation  in  regard  to  those  two  countries  than  either  newspapers 
or  anything  I  could  write.  The  Spanish  correspondence  and 
that  relative  to  the  Algerian  business  were  communicated  by  the 
President  "in  confidence,"  and  therefore  are  not  printed.  If 
there  be  another  campaign,  as  there  is  little  doubt  of  at  pres- 
ent, our  situation  next  summer  will  be  truly  critical.  France, 
at  present,  offers  a  spectacle  unheard  of  at  any  other  period. 
Enthusiasm  there  produces  an  energy  equally  terrible  and  sub- 
lime. All  those  virtues  which  depend  upon  social  or  £amily 
affections,  all  those  amiable  weaknesses  which  our  natural  feel- 
ings teach  us  to  love  or  respect,  have  disappeared  before  the 
stronger,  the  only,  at  present,  powerful  passion  the  Amor  Patrice. 
I  must  confess  my  soul  is  not  enough  steeled  not  sometimes  to 
shrink  at  the  dreadful  executions  which  have  restored  at  least 
apparent  internal  tranquillity  to  that  republic.  Yet,  upon  the 
whole,  as  long  as  the  combined  despots  press  upon  every  frontier 
and  employ  every  engine  to  destroy  and  distress  the  interior 
parts,  I  think  they  and  they  alone  are  answerable  for  every  act 
of  severity  or  injustice,  for  every  excess,  nay,  for  every  crime 
which  either  of  the  contending  parties  in  France  may  have 
committed. 

The  above  letter  to  Badollet  runs  somewhat  in  advance  of  the 
story,  which  is  resumed  in  the  letters  to  his  wife.  After  their 
marriage  on  the  llth  November,  he  remained  with  her  till  the 
close  of  the  month,  when  he  was  obliged  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
Senate. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  2d  December,  1793. 

I  have  just  time  to  let  you  know  that  I  arrived  safe  to  this 
place ;  indeed,  it  is  not  an  hour  since  I  am  landed,  and  we  must 
meet  an  hour  hence.  , 


1793.  THE    LEGMSLATUEE.     1789-1801.  HI 

3d  December,  1793. 

.  .  .  We  made  a  house  the  first  day  we  met,  and  have  had 
this  day  the  President's  speech.  The  very  day  we  met,  a  petition 
was  sent  to  our  house  signed  by  nineteen  individuals  of  York- 
town  objecting  to  my  election,  and  stating  that  I  have  not  been 
nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  It  lies  on  the  table, 
and  has  not  yet  been  taken  up.  Mr.  Morris  told  me  it  was  first 
given  to  him  by  a  member  of  the  Legislature  for  the  county  of 
York,  but  that  he  declined  presenting  it,  and  that  he  meant  to 
be  perfectly  neutral  on  the  occasion.  .  .  . 

6th  December,  1793. 

.  .  .  Till  now  we  have  had  nothing  to  do  but  reading  long 
correspondences  and  no  real  business  to  apply  to.  Whilst  I  am 
on  that  subject  I  must  add  that  from  all  the  correspondence  of 
the  French  minister,  I  am  fully  confirmed  in  the  opinion  I  had 
formed,  that  he  is  a  man  totally  unfit  for  the  place  he  fills.  His 
abilities  are  but  slender ;  he  possesses  some  declamatory  powers, 
but  not  the  least  shadow  of  judgment.  Violent  and  self-conceited, 
he  has  hurted  the  cause  of  his  country  here  more  than  all  her 
enemies  could  have  done.  I  think  that  the  convention  will  recall 
him  agreeable  to  the  request  of  the  President,  and  that  if  they 
do  not  he  will  be  sent  away.  ...  I  met  here  with  my  friend 
Smilie  and  some  more,  who  brought  me  letters  from  my,  shall  I 
say  from  our,  home.  They  do  not  know  what  has  become  of 
me,  are  afraid  I  have  died  of  the  yellow  fever,  scold  me  in  case 
I  am  alive  for  having  neglected  to  write,  and  tell  me  that  neither 
my  barn,  my  meadow,  nor  my  house  are  finished.  I  write  back 
and  insist  on  this  last  at  least  being  finished  this  winter.  .  .  . 

llth  December,  1793. 

.  .  .  The.  situation  of  America  (I  know  my  love  is  not 
indifferent  to  her  country's  fate)  is  the  most  critical  she  has 
experienced  since  the  conclusion  of  the  war  that  secured  her  in- 
dependence. On  the  one  hand,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Executive 
to  obtain  the  recall  of  Genet,  the  intemperance  of  that  minister, 
and  the  difficulty  of  forming  any  rational  conjecture  of  the  part 
the  national  convention  may  take,  give  us  sufficient  grounds  of 


112  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1793. 

alarms,  whilst,  on  the  other,  the  declared  intentions  (declared  to 
us  officially)  of  Great  Britain  to  break  through  every  rule  of 
neutrality  and  to  take  our  vessels,  laden  with  provisions,  the 
hostility  of  the  Indians  and  of  the  Algerines,  and  our  own 
weakness  render  it  equally  difficult  to  bear  so  many  insults  with 
temper  and  to  save  the  dignity  of  the  nation.  I  guess  the  first 
step  must  be  to  establish  some  kind  of  naval  force,  but  I  have 
as  yet  formed  no  fixed  opinion  of  my  own,  nor  do  I  know  what 
is  the  general  intention.  .  .  . 

15th  December,  1793. 

I  was  indeed  sadly  disappointed,  my  dearest  love,  on  receiv- 
ing your  letter  of  the  12th.  Whether  it  was  wiser  or  not  that 
you  should  not  come  here  till  after  the  decision  of  my  election  I 
will  not  pretend  to  say.  To  myself  that  decision  will  not  be 
very  material.  As  I  used  no  intrigue  in  order  to  be  elected,  as 
I  was  indeed  so  rather  against  my  own  inclination,  and  as  I  was 
undoubtedly  fairly  elected,  since  the  members  voted  viva  voce,  I 
will  be  liable  to  none  of  those  reflections  which  sometimes  fall 
upon  a  man  whose  election  is  set  aside,  and  my  feelings  cannot  be 
much  hurt  by  an  unfavorable  decision,  since  having  been  elected  is 
an  equal  proof  of  the  confidence  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
reposed  in  me,  and  not  being  qualified,  if  it  is  so  decided,  cannot 
be  imputed  to  me  as  a  fault.  ...  I  hope  that  a  decision  will 
take  place  this  week,  and  if  it  does,  I  will  go  to  'New  York  next 
Saturday,  and  once  more  enjoy  the  society  of  my  Hannah,  either 
there  or  here.  I  think  the  probability  is  that  it  will  be  there, 
as  the  committee  (to  wit :  Livermore,  Cabot,  Mitchell,  Ellsworth, 
and  Rutherford)  are  undoubtedly  the  worst  for  me  that  could 
have  been  chosen,  and  they  do  not  seem  to  me  to  be  favorably 
disposed;  this,  however,  between  you  and  me,  as  I  should  not 
be  hasty  in  forming  a  judgment,  or  at  least  in  communicating  it. 
...  I  am  happy  to  see  that  you  are  a  tolerable  democrat,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  a  moderate  one.  I  trust  that  our  parties  at 
this  critical  juncture  will  as  far  as  possible  forget  old  animosi- 
ties, and  show  at  least  to  the  foreign  powers  who  hate  us  that 
we  will  be  unanimous  whenever  the  protection  and  defence  of 
our  country  require  it.  None  but  such  as  are  entirely  blinded 


1793.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  H3 

by  self-interest  or  their  passions,  and  such  as  wish  us  to  be  only 
an  appendage  of  some  foreign  power,  can  try  to  increase  our 
weakness  by  dividing  us.  I  hope  that  the  public  measures  will 
show  firmness  tempered  with  moderation,  but  if  France  is  anni- 
hilated, as  seems  to  be  the  desire  of  the  combined  powers,  sad 
indeed  will  the  consequences  be  for  America.  They  talk  of 
fortifying  some  of  the  principal  seaports  and  of  building  a  few 
frigates.  Both  measures  may  probably  be  adopted.  .  .  . 

18th  December,  1793. 

...  I  really  enjoy  no  kind  of  pleasure  in  this  city,  and  if 
the  committee  delay  their  report  much  longer  I  believe  I  may  be 
tempted  to  run  away  and  let  them  decide  just  as  they  please.  I 
know,  or  rather  I  have  the  best  grounds  to  believe,  that  they 
mean  to  report  unanimously  against  me,  and  if  their  report,  a& 
it  is  most  likely,  is  adopted  by  the  Senate,  what  will  my  girl  say 
to  my  dividing  our  winter  into  three  parts? — the  best,  the  longest, 
and  the  most  agreeable  part  to  be  spent  in  New  York ;  a  fort- 
night in  Philadelphia,  with  our  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dallas, 
and  by  myself,  four  weeks  to  go,  stay,  and  return  from  Fayette. 
.  .  .  You  must  be  sensible,  my  dearest  friend,  that  it  will  also 
be  necessary  for  me  this  winter  to  take  such  arrangements  as  will 
enable  me  to  follow  some  kind  of  business  besides  attending  my 
farm.  What  that  will  be  I  cannot  yet  tell,  but  it  either  will  be 
in  some  mercantile  line,  but  to  a  very  limited  and  moderate  ex- 
tent, or  in  some  land  speculation,  those  being  indeed  the  two 
only  kinds  of  business  I  do  understand.  As  I  mentioned  that 
it  would  be  only  to  a  limited  amount  that  I  would  follow  any 
kind  of  mercantile  business,  I  think  I  will  have  a  portion  of 
time  left,  which  I  may  devote  possibly  to  the  study  of  law,  the 
principles  of  which  I  am  already  acquainted  with,  and  in  which 
some  people  try  to  persuade  me  I  could  succeed.  My  only  ap- 
prehension is  that  I  am  too  old,  at  least  my  memory  is  far  from 
being  equal  to  what  it  was  ten  years  ago.  Upon  the  whole  I  do 
not  know  but  what,  although  perhaps  less  pleasing,  it  may  not 
turn  out  to  be  more  advantageous  for  me  (and  of  course  for  my 
love)  to  be  obliged  to  abandon  those  political  pursuits  in  which  I 
trust  I  have  been  more  useful  to  the  public  than  to  myself.  .  .  . 

8 


114  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1793. 

20th  December,  1793. 

.  .  .  This  committee  business  is  protracted  farther  than  I 
had  expected,  and  had  I  nothing  but  a  personal  concern  in  it,  I 
would  really  leave  them  to  themselves;  but  as  the  question 
seems  to  be  whether  Pennsylvania  will  have  one  or  two  Senators 
(for  there  is  no  law  to  fill  the  vacancy  if  I  am  declared  ineligi- 
ble), and  as  I  owe  some  regard  to  the  proof  of  confidence  given 
to  me  by  the  Legislature,  I  am  obliged  to  appear  as  a  party 
and  to  support  what  I  conceive  to  be  right  as  well  as  I  can.  I 
was  in  hopes  they  would  have  reported  to-day ;  now  I  doubt 
whether  they  will  do  it  before  Tuesday  or  Thursday  next.  .  .  . 
11  o'clock.  Notwithstanding  what  I  wrote  you  this  morning,  it 
is  not  impossible  that  I  may  get  off  to-morrow  for  New  York, 
in  which  case  I  mean  that  we  should  return  together  on  Monday 
evening  to  this  place,  as  I  could  not  be  absent  any  longer  time. 
The  reason  of  this  change  of  opinion  since  this  morning  is  that 
by  the  turn  which  this  business  takes  in  the  committee,  it  will 
not  come,  I  believe,  to  a  conclusion  for  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks,  and  to  be  so  long  absent  is  too  much.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Gallatin  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  only  a  few  weeks, 
from  December  2,  1793,  till  February  28,  1794,  during  which 
time  he  was,  of  course,  principally  occupied  with  the  matter  of 
his  own  election.  There  was,  however,  one  point  to  which  he 
paid  immediate  attention.  Being  above  all  things  a  practical 
business  man,  he  had  very  strict  ideas  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  business  should  be  performed,  and  the  Department  of  the 
Treasury  was,  therefore,  in  his  eyes  the  most  important  point  to 
watch.  That  Department,  organized  a  few  years  before  by  Mr. 
Hamilton,  had  not  yet  quite  succeeded  in  finding  its  permanent 
place  in  the  political  system,  owing  perhaps  partially  to  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Hamilton  may  have,  in  this  respect  as  in  others,  adopted 
in  advance  some  theoretical  views  drawn  from  the  working  of 
the  British  system,  but  also  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  had  not 
yet  been  time  to  learn  the  most  convenient  rules  for  governing 
the  relations  of  the  Departments  to  the  Legislature.  Even  the 
law  requiring  an  annual  report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury was  not  enacted  till  the  year  1800.  In  the  interval  Congress 


1793.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  H5 

knew  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Treasury  only  what  the  Secretary 
from  time  to  time  might  please  to  tell  them,  or  what  they  them- 
selves might  please  to  call  for.  The  Department  was  organized 
on  the  assumption  that  Congress  would  require  no  more  than 
what  the  Secretary  would  naturally  and  of  his  own  accord  supply; 
any  unusual  call  for  additional  information  deranged  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  Treasury  and  called  forth  the  most  energetic 
complaints  of  its  officers.1  Such  calls,  too,  were  always  some- 
what invidious  and  implied  a  reflection  on  the  Department;  they 
were  therefore  not  likely  to  proceed  from  the  friends  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  the  opposition  was  not  strong  in  financial  ability. 
The  appearance  of  Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  Senate,  with  already  a 
high  reputation  as  a  financier,  boded  ill  for  the  comfort  of  the 
Treasury,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  a  leader  of  the  opposition 
under  the  circumstances  could  possibly  have  performed  his  duty 
without  giving  trouble.  One  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  financial  axioms 
was  that  the  Treasury  should  be  made  to  account  specifically  for 
every  appropriation ;  a  rule  undoubtedly  correct,  but  very  diffi- 
cult to  apply.  On  the  8th  of  January,  1794,  he  moved  in  the 
Senate  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  called  upon  for 
certain  elaborate  statements:  1st,  a  statement  of  the  domestic 
debt  under  six  specific  heads;  2d,  of  the  redeemed  domestic 
debt  under  specific  heads;  3d,  of  the  foreign  debt  in  a  like 
manner ;  4th,  a  specific  account  of  application  of  foreign  loans 
in  like  manner ;  and  finally  a  summary  statement,  for  each  year 
since  1789,  of  actual  receipts  and  expenditures,  distinguishing 
the  receipts  according  to  the  branch  of  revenue,  and  the  expendi- 
tures according  to  the  specific  appropriations,  and  stating  the 
balances  remaining  unexpended  either  in  the  Treasury  or  in  the 
hands  of  its  agents. 

This  was  a  searching  inquiry,  and  one  that  might  give  some 
trouble,  unless  the  books  of  the  Treasury  were  kept  in  precisely 
such  a  manner  as  to  supply  the  information  at  once ;  probably, 
too,  a  portion  of  the  knowledge  might  have  been  obtained  from 
previous  statements  already  supplied ;  but  the  demand  was,  from 


1  See  Hamilton's  letter  to  the  Senate  of  6th  February,  1794,  State  Papers, 
vii.  274. 


116  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

the  legislative  point  of  view,  not  unreasonable,  and  the  resolu- 
tions were  accordingly  adopted,  without  a  division,  on  the  20th 
January. 

The  exclusion  of  Mr.  Gallatin  from  the  Senate  on  the  28th 
February  put  an  end  to  his  inquiries,  and  the  only  answer  he 
ever  got  to  them  came  in  the  shape  of  an  indirect  allusion  con- 
tained in  a  letter  from  Secretary  Hamilton  to  the  Senate  on 
another  subject,  dated  22d  February,  1794.  This  letter,  which 
seems  never  to  have  been  printed,  offers  an  example  in  some 
respects  so  amusing  and  in  some  so  striking  of  the  political 
ideas  of  that  day,  and  of  the  species  of  discipline  in  which  Mr. 
Hamilton  trained  his  majority  in  Congress,  that  it  must  be 
introduced  as  an  essential  element  in  any  account  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  political  education.1 

1  Endorsed  by  Mr.  Gallatin  in  a  later  hand, — u  complains  of  unnecessary 
calls,  alluding  indirectly  to  certain  resolutions,  founded  on  my  motion, 
calling  for  explanatory  financial  statements  which  were  never  furnished." 

ALEXANDER   HAMILTON   TO   THE   UNITED   STATES   SENATE. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  February  22,  1794. 

SIR, — I  have  received  a  late  order  of  the  Senate  on  the  subject  of  a  peti- 
tion of  Arthur  Hughes.  Diligent  search  has  been  made  for  such  a  petition, 
and  it  has  not  been  found.  Neither  have  I  now  a  distinct  recollection  of 
ever  having  seen  it.  Whether,  therefore,  it  may  not  have  originally  failed 
in  the  transmission  to  me,  or  may  have  become  mislaid  by  a  temporary  dis- 
placement of  the  papers  of  my  immediate  office,  occasioned  by  a  fire  which 
consumed  a  part  of  the  building  in  the  use  of  the  Treasury,  or  by  some  of 
those  accidents  which  in  an  extensive  scene  of  business  will  sometimes  at- 
tend papers,  especially  those  of  inferior  importance,  is  equally  open  to  con- 
jecture. There  is  no  record  in  the  office  of  its  having  been  received,  nor 
does  any  of  my  clerks  remember  to  have  seen  it.  A  search  in  the  auditor's 
office  has  brought  up  the  enclosed  paper,  which  it  is  presumed  relates  to  the 
object  of  the  petition;  but  this  paper,  it  will  appear  from  the  memorandum 
accompanying  it,  was  placed  in  that  office  prior  to  the  reference  of  the 
petition. 

The  auditor  of  the  Treasury  is  of  opinion,  though  his  recollection  is  not 
positive,  that  the  claim  had  relation  to  the  services  of  John  Hughes  as 
forage-master.  Two  objections  opposed  its  admission :  1,  the  not  being 
presented  in  time;  2,  the  name  of  John  Hughes  in  the  capacity  in  which 
he  claimed  not  appearing  upon  any  return  in  the  Treasury. 

If  these  be  the  circumstances,  I  should  be  of  opinion  that  it  would  not  be 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  H7 

"  The  occupations  necessarily  and  permanently  incident  to  the 
office  [of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury],"  said  Mr.  Hamilton,  "  are 
at  least  sufficient  fully  to  occupy  the  time  and  faculties  of  one 
man.  The  burden  is  seriously  increased  by  the  numerous  pri- 
vate cases,  remnants  of  the  late  war,  which  every  session  are 
objects  of  particular  reference  by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress. 

advisable  by  a  special  legislative  interposition  to  except  the  case  out  of  the 
operation  of  the  acts  of  limitation. 

The  second  order  of  the  Senate  on  the  subject  of  this  petition  leads  to  the 
following  reflections : 

Does  this  hitherto  unusual  proceeding  (in  a  case  of  no  public  and  no 
peculiar  private  importance)  imply  a  supposition  that  there  has  been  undue 
delay  or  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ? 

If  it  does,  the  supposition  is  unmerited ;  not  merely  from  the  circum- 
stances of  the  paper,  which  have  been  stated,  but  from  the  known  situation 
of  the  officer.  The  occupations  necessarily  and  permanently  incident  to  the 
office  are  at  least  sufficient  fully  to  occupy  the  time  and  faculties  of  one  man. 
The  burden  is  seriously  increased  by  the  numerous  private  cases,  remnants 
of  the  late  war,  which  every  session  are  objects  of  particular  reference  by 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  These  accumulated  occupations,  again,  have 
been  interrupted  in  their  due  course  by  unexpected,  desultory,  and  distressing 
calls  for  lengthy  and  complicated  statements,  sometimes  with  a  view  to 
general  information,  sometimes  for  the  explanation  of  points  which  certain 
leading  facts,  witnessed  by  the  provisions  of  the  laws  and  by  information 
previously  communicated,  might  have  explained  without  those  statements, 
or  which  were  of  a  nature  that  did  not  seem  to  have  demanded  a  laborious, 
critical,  and  suspicious  investigation,  unless  the  officer  was  understood  to 
have  forfeited  his  title  to  a  reasonable  and  common  degree  of  confidence. 
Added  to  these  things,  it  is  known  that  the  affairs  of  the  country  in  its 
external  relations  have  for  some  time  past  been  so  circumstanced  as  un- 
avoidably to  have  thrown  additional  avocations  on  all  the  branches  of  the 
Executive  Department,  and  that  a  late  peculiar  calamity  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  has  had  consequences  that  cannot  have  failed  to  derange  more 
or  less  the  course  of  public  business. 

In  such  a  situation  was  it  not  the  duty  of  the  officer  to  postpone  matters 
of  mere  individual  concern  to  objects  of  public  and  general  concern,  to  the 
preservation  of  the  essential  order  of  the  department  committed  to  his  care  ? 
Or  is  it  extraordinary  that  in  relation  to  cases  of  the  first  description  there 
should  have  been  a  considerable  degree  of  procrastination  ?  Might  not 
an  officer  who  is  conscious  that  public  observation  and  opinion,  whatever 
deficiencies  they  may  impute  to  him,  will  not  rank  among  them  want  of 
attention  and  industry,  have  hoped  to  escape  censure,  expressed  or  implied, 
on  that  score  ? 

I  will  only  add  that  the  consciousness  of  devoting  myself  to  the  public 
service  to  the  utmost  extent  of  my  faculties,  and  to  the  injury  of  my  health, 


118  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

These  accumulated  occupations,  again,  have  been  interrupted  in 
their  due  course  by  unexpected,  desultory,  and  distressing  calls 
for  lengthy  and  complicated  statements,  sometimes  with  a  view 
to  general  information,  sometimes  for  the  explanation  of  points 
which  certain  leading  facts,  witnessed  by  the  provisions  of  the 
laws  and  by  information  previously  communicated,  might  have 
explained  without  those  statements,  or  which  were  of  a  nature 
that  did  not  seem  to  have  demanded  a  laborious,  critical,  and 
suspicious  investigation,  unless  the  officer  was  understood  to  have 
forfeited  his  title  to  a  reasonable  and  common  degree  of  confi- 
dence. ...  I  will  only  add  that  the  consciousness  of  devoting 
myself  to  the  public  service  to  the  utmost  extent  of  my  faculties, 
and  to  the  injury  of  my  health,  is  a  tranquillizing  consolation  of 
which  I  cannot  be  deprived  by  any  supposition  to  the  contrary." 
A  country  which  can  read  expressions  like  this  with  feelings 
only  of  surprise  or  amusement  must  have  greatly  changed  its  char- 
acter. Only  in  a  simple  and  uncorrupted  stage  of  society  would 
such  a  letter  be  possible,  and  the  time  has  long  passed  when  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  reply  to  a  request  for  financial 
details,  would  venture  to  say  in  an  official  communication  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  :  "The  consciousness  of  devoting  my- 
self to  the  public  service  to  the  utmost  extent  of  my  faculties, 
and  to  the  injury  of  my  health,  is  a  tranquillizing  consolation  of 
which  I  cannot  be  deprived  by  any  supposition  to  the  contrary."' 
Nevertheless,  this  was  all  the  information  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
obtained  as  to  the  condition  of  the  Treasury  in  response  to  his 
inquiries,  and  he  resigned  himself  the  more  readily  to  accepting 
assurances  of  the  Secretary's  injured  health  as  an  equivalent  for 
a  statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  for  the  reason  that  the 


is  a  tranquillizing  consolation  of  which  I  cannot  be  deprived  by  any  supposi- 
tion to  the  contrary. 

With  perfect  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient 
servant, 

Signed  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

THE  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  PRESIDENT  or  THE  SENATE. 

True  copy.     Attest :        SAMUEL  A.  OTIS,  S.  Secretary. 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  H9 

Senate,  on  this  strong  hint  from  the  Treasury,  proceeded  at  once 
to  cut  short  the  thread  of  his  own  official  existence. 

The  doubt  which  Mr.  Gallatin  had  expressed  in  caucus  as  to 
his  eligibility  to  the  Senate  was  highly  indiscreet ;  had  he  held 
his  tongue,  the  idea  could  hardly  have  occurred  to  any  one,  for 
he  was  completely  identified  with  America,  and  he  had  been  a 
resident  since  a  time  antecedent  to  both  the  Federal  Constitutions; 
but  Article  I.  Sect.  3,  of  the  new  Constitution  declared  that, 
"No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant 
of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen."  Mr.  Gallatin  had 
come  to  America,  as  a  minor,  in  May,  1780,  before  the  adoption 
of  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation  which  created  citizenship 
of  the  United  States.  That  citizenship  was  first  defined  by  the 
fourth  of  these  Articles  of  Confederation  adopted  in  March, 
1781,  according  to  which  "the  free  inhabitants,"  not  therefore 
the  citizens  merely,  "  of  each  of  these  States,  paupers,  vagabonds, 
and  fugitives  from  justice  excepted,  shall  be  entitled  to  all  priv- 
ileges and  immunities  of  free  citizens  in  the  several  States." 
Mr.  Gallatin  had  certainly  been  an  inhabitant  of  Massachusetts 
from  July,  1780. 

Moreover,  the  fact  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  citizenship  was  established 
by  the  oath  which  he  had  taken  as  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1785.  Whatever  doubt  might  attach  to  his  previous  citizen- 
ship, this  act  had  certainly  conferred  on  him  all  the  privileges  of 
free  citizens  in  the  several  States,  and  without  the  most  incon- 
trovertible evidence  it  was  not  to  be  assumed  that  the  new 
Constitution,  subsequently  adopted,  was  intended  to  violate  this, 
compact  by  depriving  him,  and  through  him  his  State,  of  any 
portion  of  those  privileges.  Equity  rather  required  that  the 
clause  of  the  Constitution  which  prescribed  nine  years'  citizenship 
should  be  interpreted  as  prospective,  and  as  intended  to  refer  only 
to  persons  naturalized  subsequently  to  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution. If  it  were  objected  that  such  an  interpretation,  applied 
to  the  Presidency,  would  have  made  any  foreigner  naturalized  in 
1788  immediately  eligible  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  Union, 
a  result  quite  opposed  to  the  constitutional  doctrine  in  regard  to 


120  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIK  1794. 

foreign-born  citizens,  a  mere  reference  to  Article  II.,  Section  1, 
showed  that  this  was  actually  the  fact:  "No  person  except  a 
natural-born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office 
of  President."  There  never  was  a  doubt  that  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
eligible  to  the  Presidency.  That  a  reasonable  interpretation 
of  Article  I.,  Section  3,  must  have  made  him  equally  eligible  to 
the  Senate  is  also  evident  from  the  fact  that  a  strict  interpretation 
of  that  clause,  if  attempted  in  1789  when  Congress  first  met, 
must  have  either  admitted  him  or  vacated  the  seat  of  every  other 
Senator,  seeing  that  technically  no  human  being  had  been  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  for  nine  years ;  national  citizenship 
had  existed  in  law  only  since  and  by  virtue  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  in  1781,  before  which  time  State 
citizenship  was  the  only  defined  political  status. 

Opposed  to  this  view  stood  the  letter  of  the  Constitution.  We 
now  know,  too,  through  Mr.  Madison's  Notes,  that  when  the 
question  of  eligibility  to  the  House  of  Representatives  came 
before  the  Convention  on  August  13,  1788,  both  Mr.  Hamilton 
and  Gouverneur  Morris  tried  to  obtain  an  express  admission  of 
the  self-evident  rights  of  actual  citizens.  For  unknown  reasons 
Mr.  Morris's  motion  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  6  States  to  5. 
Failing  here,  he  seems  to  have  succeeded  in  regard  to  the  Pres- 
idency by  inserting  his  proviso  in  committee,  and  no  one  in  the 
Convention  subsequently  raised  even  a  question  lagainst  its  pro- 
priety. Of  course  the  Senate  was  at  liberty  now  to  put  its  own 
interpretation  on  this  obvious  inconsistency,  and  the  Senate  was 
so  divided  that  one  member  might  have  given  Mr.  Gallatin  his 
seat.  The  vote  was  14  to  12,  with  Vice-President  John  Adams 
in  his  favor  had  there  been  a  tie.  There  was  no  tie,  and  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  thrown  out.  He  always  believed  that  his  oppo- 
nents made  a  political  blunder,  and  that  the  result  was  beneficial 
to  himself  and  injurious  to  them. 

GALLATIN   TO  THOMAS   CLARE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  5th  March,  1794. 

...  I  have  nothing  else  to  say  in  addition  to  what  I  wrote 
you  by  my  last  but  what  Mr.  Badollet  can  tell  you.  He  will 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801. 

inform  you  of  what  passed  on  the  subject  of  my  seat  in  the 
Senate,  and  that  I  have  lost  it  by  a  majority  of  14  to  12.  One 
vote  more  would  have  secured  it,  as  the  Vice- President  would 
have  voted  in  my  favor;  but  heaven  and  earth  were  moved  in 
order  to  gain  that  point  by  the  party  who  were  determined  to 
preserve  their  influence  and  majority  in  the  Senate.  The  whole 
will  soon  be  published,  and  I  will  send  it  to  you.  As  far  as 
relates  to  myself  I  have  rather  gained  credit  than  otherwise, 
and  I  have  likewise  secured  many  staunch  friends  throughout 
the  Union.  All  my  friends  wish  me  to  come  to  the  Assembly 
next  year.  .  .  . 

After  this  rebuff,  Mr.  Gallatin,  being  thrown  entirely  out  of 
politics  for  the  time,  began  to  pay  a  little  more  attention  to  his 
private  affairs.  He  could  not  at  this  season  of  the  year  set  out 
for  Fayette,  and  accordingly  returned  to  New  York,  where  he 
left  his  wife  with  her  family,  while  he  himself  went  back  to 
Philadelphia  to  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  their  west- 
ern journey  and  future  residence.  Here  he  sold  a  portion  of  his 
western  lands  to  Robert  Morris,  who  was  then,  like  the  rest  of 
the  world,  speculating  in  every  species  of  dangerous  venture. 
Like  everything  else  connected  with  land,  the  transaction  was 
an  unlucky  one  for  Mr.  Gallatin. 

GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  7th  April,  1794. 

We  arrived  here,  my  dearest  friend,  on  Saturday  last.  .  .  . 
No  news  here.  You  will  see  by  the  newspapers  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Clark  to  stop  all  intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  I  believe 
it  is  likely  to  be  supported  by  our  friends.  Dayton  is  quite 
warm.  The  other  day,  when  it  was  observed  in  Congress  by 
Tracy  that  every  person  who  would  vote  for  this  motion  of 
sequestering  the  British  debts  must  be  an  enemy  to  morality 
and  common  honesty,  'I  might/  replied  Dayton, — 'I  might 
with  equal  propriety  call  every  person  who  will  refuse  to  vote  for 
that  motion  a  slave  of  Great  Britain  and  an  enemy  to  his  coun- 
try ;  but  if  it  is  the  intention  of  those  gentlemen  to  submit  to 
every  insult  and  patiently  to  bear  every  indignity,  I  wish  (point- 


122  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT     GAL  LATIN.  1794. 

ing  to  the  eastern  members,  with  whom  he  used  to  vote), — I  wish 
to  separate  myself  from  the  herd* 

The  majority  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  had  several 
votes,  previous  to  the  election  of  a  Senator  in  my  place,  to  agree 
upon  the  man.  Sitgreaves,  a  certain  Coleman,  of  Lancaster 
County,  a  fool  and  a  tool,  and  James  Ross,  were  proposed  and 
balloted  for.  Ross  had  but  seven  votes,  on  account  of  his  being 
a  western  man  and  a  man  of  talents,  who  upon  great  many 
questions  would  judge  for  himself.  They  divided  almost  equally 
between  Sitgreaves  and  Coleman,  and  at  last  agreed  to  take  up 
Coleman,  in  order  to  please  the  counties  of  Lancaster  and  York. 
Our  friends,  who  were  the  minority,  had  no  meeting,  and  waited 
to  see  what  would  be  the  decision  of  the  other  party,  in  hopes 
that  they  might  divide  amongst  themselves.  As  soon  as  they 
saw  Coleman  taken  up  they  united  in  favor  of  Ross  as  the  best 
man  they  had  any  chance  of  carrying,  and  they  were  joined 
by  a  sufficient  number  of  the  disappointed  ones  of  the  other 
party  to  be  able  to  carry  him  at  the  first  vote.  As  he  comes 
chiefly  upon  our  interest,  I  hope  he  will  behave  tolerably  well, 
and,  upon  the  whole,  although  it  puts  any  chance  of  my  being 
again  elected  a  member  of  that  body  beyond  possibility  itself,  I 
am  better  pleased  with  the  fate  of  the  election  than  most  of  our 
adversaries.  .  .  . 

PHILADELPHIA,  19th  April,  1794. 

...  I  have  concluded  this  day  with  Mr.  Robert  Morris,  who, 
in  fact,  is  the  only  man  who  buys.  I  give  him  the  whole  of 
my  claims,  but  without  warranting  any  title,  for  £4000,  Penn- 
sylvania currency,  one-third  payable  this  summer,  one-third  in 
one  year,  and  one-third  in  two  years.  That  sum  therefore,  my 
dearest,  together  with  our  farm  and  five  or  six  hundred  pounds 
cash,  makes  the  whole  of  our  little  fortune.  Laid  out  in  culti- 
vated lands  in  our  neighborhood  it  will  provide  us  amply  with 
all  the  necessaries  of  life,  to  which  you  may  add  that,  as  property 
is  gradually  increasing  in  value  there,  should  in  future  any  cir- 
cumstances induce  us  to  change  our  place  of  abode,  we  may  always 
sell  to  advantage.  .  .  . 

Early  in  May  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gallatin  set  out  for  Fayette.    His 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801. 

mind  was  at  this  time  much  occupied  with  his  private  affairs  and 
private  anxieties.  His  sale  of  lands  to  Robert  Morris  had,  as 
he  hoped,  relieved  him  of  a  serious  burden ;  but  he  was  again 
trying  the  experiment  of  taking  an  Eastern  wife  to  a  frontier 
home,  and  he  was  again  driven  by  the  necessities  and  responsi- 
bilities of  a  family  to  devise  some  occupation  that  would  secure 
him  an  income.  The  farm  on  George's  Creek  was  no  doubt 
security  against  positive  want,  but  in  itself  or  in  its  surround- 
ings offered  little  prospect  of  a  fortune  for  him,  and  still  less  for 
his  children. 

He  had  barely  reached  home,  and  his  wife  had  not  yet  time 
to  set  her  house  in  order  and  to  get  the  first  idea  of  her  future 
duties  in  this  wholly  strange  condition  of  life,  when  a  new 
complication  threatened  them  with  dangers  greater  than  any 
which  their  imaginations  could  have  reasonably  painted.  They 
suddenly  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  violent  political 
disturbance,  organized  insurrection  and  war,  an  army  on  either 
side. 

For  eighteen  months  Mr.  Gallatin  had  almost  lost  sight  of 
the  excise  agitation,  and  possibly  had  not  been  sorry  to  do  so. 
Throughout  his  political  life  he  followed  the  sound  rule  of 
identifying  himself  with  his  friends  and  of  accepting  the  full 
responsibility,  except  in  one  or  two  extreme  cases,  even  for 
measures  which  were  not  of  his  own  choice.  But  under  the 
moderation  of  his  expressions  in  regard  to  the  Pittsburg  reso- 
lutions of  1792  it  seems  possible  to  detect  a  certain  amount  of 
personal  annoyance  at  the  load  he  was  thus  forced  to  carry,  and 
a  determination  to  keep  himself  clear  from  such  complications 
in  future.  The  year  had  been  rather  favorable  than  otherwise 
to  the  operation  of  the  excise  law.  To  use  his  own  language  in 
his  speech  of  January,  1795:  "It  is  even  acknowledged  that 
the  law  gained  ground  during  the  year  1793.  With  the  events 
subsequent  to  that  meeting  [at  Pittsburg]  I  am  but  imperfectly 
acquainted.  I  came  to  Philadelphia  a  short  time  after  it,  and 
continued  absent  from  the  western  country  upon  public  business 
for  eighteen  months.  Neither  during  that  period  of  absence, 
nor  after  my  return  to  the  western  country  in  June  last,  until 
the  riots  had  begun,  had  I  the  slightest  conversation  that  I  can 


124  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    OALLATIN.  1794. 

recollect,  much  less  any  deliberate  conference  or  correspondence, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  of  its  inhabitants  on  the 
subject  of  the  excise  law.  I  became  first  acquainted  with  almost 
every  act  of  violence  committed  either  before  or  since  the  meet- 
ing at  Pittsburg  upon  reading  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury." 

Occasional  acts  of  violence  were  committed  from  time  to  time 
by  unknown  or  irresponsible  persons  with  intent  to  obstruct 
the  collection  of  the  tax,  but  no  opposition  of  any  consequence 
had  as  yet  been  offered  to  the  ordinary  processes  of  the  courts; 
not  only  the  rioters,  wherever  known,  but  also  the  delinquent 
distillers,  were  prosecuted  in  all  the  regular  forms  of  law,  both 
in  the  State  and  the  Federal  courts.  The  great  popular  griev- 
ance had  been  that  the  distillers  were  obliged  to  enter  appear- 
ance at  Philadelphia,  which  was  in  itself  equivalent  to  a  serious 
pecuniary  fine,  owing  to  the  distance  and  difficulty  of  commu- 
nication. In  modern  times  it  would  probably  be  a  much  smaller 
hardship  to  require  that  similar  offenders  in  California  and 
Texas  should  stand  their  trial  at  Washington.  This  grievance 
had,  however,  been  remedied  by  an  Act  of  Congress  approved 
June  5, 1794,  by  which  concurrent  jurisdiction  in  excise  cases  was 
given  to  the  State  courts.  Unluckily,  this  law  was  held  not  to 
apply  to  distillers  who  had  previously  to  its  enactment  incurred 
a  penalty,  and  early  in  July  the  marshal  set  out  to  the  western 
country  to  serve  a  quantity  of  writs  issued  on  May  31  and  re- 
turnable before  the  Federal  court  in  Philadelphia.  All  those 
in  Fayette  County  were  served  without  trouble,  and  the  distillers 
subsequently  held  a  meeting  at  Uniontown  about  the  20th  July, 
after  the  riots  had  begun  elsewhere  and  the  news  had  spread  to 
Fayette;  a  meeting  which  Mr.  Gallatin  attended,  and  at  which 
it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  obey  the  law,  and  either  abandon 
their  stills  or  enter  them.  In  fact,  there  never  was  any  resistance 
or  trouble  in  Fayette  County  except  in  a  part  the  most  remote 
from  Mr.  Gallatin's  residence. 

But  the  marshal  was  not  so  fortunate  elsewhere.  He  went  on 
to  serve  his  writs  in  Alleghany  County,  and  after  serving  the 
last  he  was  followed  by  some  men  and  a  gun  was  fired.  General 
Neville,  the  inspector,  was  with  him,  and  the  next  day,  July  16, 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801.  127 

General  Neville's  house  was  approached  by  a  body  of  men,  who 
demanded  that  he  should  surrender  his  commission.  They  were 
fired  upon  and  driven  away,  with  six  of  their  number  wounded 
and  one  killed.  Then  the  smouldering  flame  burst  out.  The 
whole  discontented  portion  of  the  country  rose  in  armed  rebellion, 
and  the  well-disposed,  although  probably  a  majority,  were  taken 
completely  by  surprise  and  were  for  the  moment  helpless.  The 
next  day  Neville's  house  was  again  attacked  and  burned,  though 
held  by  Major  Kirkpatrick  and  a  few  soldiers  from  the  Pittsburg 
garrison.  The  leader  of  the  attacking  party  was  killed. 

The  whole  duration  of  the  famous  whiskey  rebellion  was 
precisely  six  weeks,  from  the  outbreak  on  the  15th  July  to  the 
substantial  submission  at  Redstone  Old  Fort  on  the  29th  August. 
This  is  in  itself  evidence  enough  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
various  actors  moved.  From  the  first,  two  parties  were  apparent, 
those  in  favor  of  violence  and  those  against  it.  The  violent 
party  had  the  advantage  in  the  very  suddenness  of  their  move- 
ment. The  moderates  were  obliged  to  organize  their  force  at 
first  in  the  districts  where  their  strength  lay,  before  it  became 
possible  to  act  in  combination  against  the  disturbers  of  the  peace. 
Of  course  an  armed  collision  was  of  all  things  to  be  avoided  by 
the  moderates,  at  least  until  the  national  government  could  have 
time  to  act ;  in  such  a  collision  the  more  peaceable  part  of  the 
community  was  certain  to  be  worsted. 

Mr.  Gallatin,  far  away  from  the  scene  of  disturbance,  did  not 
at  first  understand  the  full  meaning  of  what  had  happened.  He 
and  his  friend  Smilie  attended  the  meeting  of  distillers  at  Union- 
town,  and,  although  news  of  the  riots  had  been  received  there, 
they  found  no  difficulty  in  persuading  the  distillers  to  submit. 
He  therefore  felt  no  occasion  for  further  personal  interference 
until  subsequent  events  showed  him  that  there  was  a  general 
combination  to  expel  the  government  officers.1  But  events 
moved  fast.  On  the  21st  July,  the  leaders  in  the  attack  on  Nev- 
ille's house  called  a  meeting  at  Mingo  Creek  meeting-house 
for  the  23d,  which  was  attended  by  a  number  of  leading  men, 
among  whom  were  Judge  Brackenridge  and  David  Bradford. 

1  Gallatin's  Deposition  in  Brackenridge 's  Incidents,  vol.  ii.  p.  186. 


128  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  A  TIN.  1794. 

Judge  Brackenridge,  then  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Pittsburg, 
was  a  humorist  and  a  scholar,  constitutionally  nervous  and  timid, 
as  he  himself  explains/  the  last  man  to  meet  an  emergency  such 
as  was  now  before  him,  and  furthermore  greatly  inclined  to  run 
away,  if  he  could,  and  leave  the  rebels  to  their  own  devices ;  he 
did  nevertheless  make  a  fairly  courageous  stand  at  the  Mingo 
Creek  meeting,  and  disconcerted  the  movements  of  the  insurgents 
for  the  time.  Had  others  done  their  duty  as  well  as  he,  the 
organization  of  the  insurgents  would  have  ended  then  and  there, 
but  Brackenridge  was  deserted  by  the  two  men  who  should  have 
supported  him.  James  Marshall  and  David  Bradford  had  gone 
over  to  the  insurgents,  and  by  their  accession  the  violent  party 
was  enabled  to  carry  on  its  operations.  The  Mingo  Creek  meet- 
ing ended  in  a  formal  though  unsigned  invitation  to  the  town- 
ships of  the  four  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
adjoining  counties  of  Virginia  to  send  representatives  on  the 
14th  August  to  a  meeting  at  Parkinson's  Ferry  on  the  Monon- 
gahela. 

Had  this  measure  been  left  to  itself  it  is  probable  that  it  would 
have  answered  sufficiently  well  the  purposes  of  the  peace  party, 
since  it  allowed  them  time  for  consultation  and  organization, 
which  was  all  they  really  required.  Bradford  and  his  friends 
knew  this,  and  were  bent  on  forcing  the  country  into  their  own 
support;  Bradford  therefore  conceived  the  ingenious  idea  of 
stopping  the  mail  and  seizing  the  letters  which  might  have  been 
written  from  Pittsburg  and  Washington  to  Philadelphia.  This 
was  done  on  the  26th  by  a  cousin  of  Bradford,  who  stopped  the 
post  near  Greensburg,  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Pittsburg,  and 
took  out  the  two  packages.  In  the  Pittsburg  package  were 
found  several  letters  from  Pittsburg  people,  the  publication  of 
which  roused  great  offence  against  them,  and,  what  was  of  more 
consequence,  carried  consternation  among  the  timid.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  system  of  terror. 

Certainly  Bradford  showed  energy  and  ability  in  conducting 
his  campaign,  at  least  as  considered  from  Brackenridge's  point 
of  view.  His  stroke  at  the  peace  party  through  the  mail-rob- 

1  Incidents,  vol.  ii.  p.  63. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  129 

bery  was  instantly  followed  up  by  another,  much  more  serious 
and  thoroughly  effective.  On  the  28th  July  he  with  six  others, 
among  whom  was  James  Marshall,  issued  a  circular  letter,  in 
which,  after  announcing  that  the  intercepted  letters  contained 
secrets  hostile  to  their  interest,  they  declared  that  things  had  now 
"come  to  that  crisis  that  every  citizen  must  express  his  sen- 
timents, not  by  his  words  but  by  his  actions."  This  letter, 
directed  to  the  officers  of  the  militia,  was  in  the  form  of  an  order 
to  march  on  the  1st  August,  with  as  many  of  their  command  as 
possible,  fully  armed  and  equipped,  with  four  days'  provision,  to 
the  usual  rendezvous  of  the  militia  at  Braddock's  Field. 

This  was  levying  war  on  a  complete  scale,  but  it  was  well 
understood  that  the  chief  object  was  to  overawe  opposition,  more 
especially  in  Pittsburg,  although  the  Federal  garrison  and  stores 
in  that  city  were  also  aimed  at.  The  order  met  with  strong  re- 
sistance, and  under  the  earnest  remonstrances  of  James  Ross  and 
other  prominent  men,  in  a  meeting  at  Washington,  even  Marshall 
was  compelled  to  retract  and  assent  to  a  countermand.  But,  not- 
withstanding their  opposition,  the  popular  vehemence  in  Wash- 
ington County  was  such  that  it  was  decided  to  go  forward,  and, 
after  a  moment's  wavering,  Bradford  became  again  the  loudest 
of  the  insurgent  leaders. 

On  the  1st  August,  accordingly,  several  thousand  people  as- 
sembled at  Braddock's  Field,  about  eight  miles  from  Pittsburg. 
Of  these  some  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  were  armed 
militia,  all  from  the  counties  of  Washington,  Alleghany,  and 
Westmoreland ;  there  were  not  more  than  a  dozen  men  present 
from  Fayette.  Brackenridge  has  given  a  lively  description  of 
this  meeting,  which  he  attended  as  a  delegate  from  Pittsburg, 
in  the  hope  of  saving  the  town,  if  possible,  from  the  expected 
sack.  Undoubtedly  a  portion  of  the  armed  militia  might  easily 
have  been  induced  to  attack  the  garrison,  which  would  have  led 
to  the  plundering  of  the  town,  but  either  Bradford  wanted  the 
courage  to  fight  or  he  found  opposition  among  his  own  followers. 
He  abandoned  the  idea  of  assailing  the  garrison,  and  this  for- 
midable assemblage  of  armed  men,  after  much  vague  discussion, 
ended  by  insisting  only  upon  marching  through  the  town,  which 
was  done  on  the  2d  of  August,  without  other  violence  than  the 


130  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

burning  of  Major  Kirkpatrick's  barn.  A  lively  sense  of  the 
meaning  of  excise  to  the  western  people  is  conveyed  by  the  casual 
statement  that  this  march  cost  Judge  Brackenridge  alone  four 
barrels  of  his  old  whiskey,  gratuitously  distributed  to  appease  the 
thirst  of  the  crowd ;  how  much  whiskey  the  western  gentleman 
usually  kept  in  his  house  nowhere  appears,  but  it  is  not  sur- 
prising under  such  circumstances  that  the  march  should  have 
thoroughly  terrified  the  citizens  of  Pittsburg  and  quenched  all 
thirst  for  opposition  in  that  quarter. 

Mr.  Gallatin  did  not  attend  the  meeting  at  Braddock's  Field ; 
it  was  not  till  after  that  meeting  that  the  serious  nature  of  the 
disturbances  first  became  evident  to  him.  What  had  been  riot 
was  now  become  rebellion.  He  rapidly  woke  to  the  gravity  of 
the  occasion  when  disorder  spread  on  every  side  and  even  Fay- 
ette  was  invaded  by  riotous  parties  of  armed  men.  A  liberty- 
pole  was  raised,  and  when  he  asked  its  meaning  he  was  told  it 
was  to  show  they  were  for  liberty ;  he  replied  by  expressing  the 
wish  that  they  would  not  behave  like  a  mob,  and  was  met  by  the 
pointed  inquiry  whether  he  had  heard  of  the  resolves  in  West- 
moreland that  if  any  one  called  the  people  a  mob  he  should  be 
tarred  and  feathered.1  Unlike  many  of  the  friends  of  order,  he 
felt  no  doubts  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  sending  delegates  to 
the  coming  assembly  at  Parkinson's  Ferry,  and,  feeling  that 
Fayette  would  inevitably  be  drawn  into  the  general  flame  unless 
measures  were  promptly  taken  to  prevent  it,  he  offered  to  serve 
as  a  delegate  himself,  and  was  elected.  All  the  friends  of  order 
did  not  act  with  the  same  decision.  The  meeting  at  Braddock's 
Field  was  intended  to  control  the  elections  to  the  meeting  at 
Parkinson's  Ferry,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  it  really  had 
this  effect.  The  peace  party  was  overawed  by  it.  The  rioters 
extended  their  operations;  chose  delegates  from  all  townships 
where  they  were  a  majority,  and  from  a  number  where  they  were 
not,  and  made  an  appearance  of  election  in  some  places  where 
no  election  was  held.  The  peace  party  hesitated  to  the  last 
whether  to  send  delegates  at  all. 

When  the  14th  of  August  came,  all  the  principal  actors  were 

1  Gallatin 's  Deposition. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  131 

on  the  spot, — Bradford,  Marshall,  Brackenridge,  Findley,  and 
Gallatin,— 226  delegates  in  all,  of  whom  93  from  Washington, 
43  from  Alleghany,  49  from  "Westmoreland,  and  33  from  Fay- 
ette,  2  from  Bedford,  5  from  Ohio  County  in  Virginia,  and  about 
the  same  number  of  spectators.  They  were  assembled  in  a  grove 
overlooking  the  Monongahela.  Marshall  came  to  Gallatin  before 
the  meeting  was  organized,  and  showed  him  the  resolutions  which 
he  intended  to  move,  intimating  at  the  same  time  that  he  wished 
Mr.  Gallatin  to  act  as  secretary.  Mr.  Gallatin  told  him  that  he 
highly  disapproved  the  resolutions,  and  had  come  to  oppose  both 
him  and  Bradford,  therefore  did  not  wish  to  serve.  Marshall 
seemed  to  waver ;  but  soon  the  people  met,  and  Edward  Cook, 
who  had  presided  at  Braddock's  Field,  was  chosen  chairman, 
with  Gallatin  for  secretary. 

Bradford  opened  the  debate  by  a  speech  in  which,  beginning 
with  a  history  of  the  movement,  he  read  the  original  intercepted 
letters,  and  stated  the  object  of  the  present  meeting  as  being 
to  deliberate  on  the  mode  in  which  the  common  cause  was  to 
be  effectuated ;  he  closed  by  pronouncing  the  terms  of  his  own 
policy,  which  were  to  purchase  or  procure  arms  and  ammunition, 
to  subscribe  money,  to  raise  volunteers  or  draft  militia,  and  to 
appoint  committees  to  have  the  superintendence  of  those  depart- 
ments. Marshall  supported  Bradford,  and  moved  his  resolutions, 
which  were  at  once  taken  into  consideration.  The  first  denounced 
the  practice  of  taking  citizens  to  great  distances  for  trial,  and  this 
resolution  was  put  to  vote  and  carried  without  opposition.  The 
second  appointed  a  committee  of  public  safety  "  to  call  forth  the 
resources  of  the  western  country  to  repel  any  hostile  attempt  that 
may  be  made  against  the  rights  of  the  citizens  or  of  the  body  of  the 
people."  It  was  dexterously  drawn.  It  did  not  call  for  a  direct 
approval  of  the  previous  acts  of  rebellion,  but,  by  assuming  their 
legality  and  organizing  resistance  to  the  government  on  that 
assumption,  it  committed  the  meeting  to  an  act  of  treason.1 

Mr.  Gallatin  immediately  rose,  and,  throwing  aside  all  tactical 
manoeuvres,  met  the  issue  flatly  in  face.  "  What  reason,"  said  he, 


1  See  the  resolutions  as  proposed  and  as  ultimately  adopted,  in  Appendix 
to  Gallatin's  speech  on  the  insurrection.     Writings,  iit.  56. 


132  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

"  have  we  to  suppose  that  hostile  attempts  will  be  made  against 
our  rights  ?  and  why,  therefore,  prepare  to  resist  them  ?  Riots 
have  taken  place  which  may  be  the  subject  of  judicial  cognizance, 
but  we  are  not  to  suppose  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  general 
government;  the  exertions  of  government  on  the  citizens  in 
support  of  the  laws  are  coercion  and  not  hostility  ;  it  is  not  un- 
derstood that  a  regular  army  is  coming,  and  militia  of  the  United 
States  cannot  be  supposed  hostile  to  the  western  country.77 1  He 
closed  by  moving  that  the  resolutions  should  be  referred  to  a 
committee,  and  that  nothing  should  be  done  before  it  was  known 
what  the  government  would  do* 

Mr.  Gallatin's  speech  met  the  assumption  that  resistance  to  the 
excise  was  legal  by  a  contrary  assumption,  without  argument, 
that  it  was  illegal,  and  thus  threatened  to  force  a  discussion  of 
the  point  of  which  both  sides  were  afraid.  Mr.  Gallatin  him- 
self believed  that  the  resolutions  would  then  have  been  adopted 
if  put  to  a  vote;  the  majority,  even  if  disposed  to  peace,  had 
not  the  courage  to  act.  Now  was  the  time  for  Brackenridge  to 
have  thrown  off  his  elaborate  web  of  double-dealing  and  with  his 
utmost  strength  to  have  supported  Gallatin's  lead ;  but  Brack- 
enridge's  nerves  failed  him.  "I  respected  the  courage  of  the 
secretary  in  meeting  the  resolution,"  he  says,2  "  but  I  was  alarmed 
at  the  idea  of  any  discussion  of  the  principle."  "  I  affected  to 
oppose  the  secretary,  and  thought  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  have 
the  resolution,  though  softened  in  terms."  Nevertheless,  the 
easential  point  was  carried;  Marshall  withdrew  the  resolution,  and 
a  compromise  was  made  by  referring  everything  to  a  committee 
of  sixty,  with  power  to  call  a  new  meeting  of  the  people. 

The  third  and  fourth  resolutions  required  no  special  opposi- 
tion. The  fifth  pledged  the  people  to  the  support  of  the  laws, 
except  the  excise  law  and  the  taking  citizens  out  of  their  counties 
for  trial.  Gallatin  attacked  this  exception,  and  succeeded  in 
having  it  expunged.  A  debate  then  followed  on  the  adoption  of 
the  amended  resolution,  which  was  supported  by  both  Bracken- 


1  Brackenridge,    Incidents,   vol.   i.  p.  90;    Findley,   p.    144;   Gallatin's 
Deposition. 

2  Incidents,  vol.  i.  p.  90. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  133 

ridge  and  Gallatin,  and  an  incident  said  to  have  occurred  in  the 
course  of  the  latter's  speech  is  thus  related  by  Mr.  Brackenridge  :l 

"  Mr.  Gallatin  supported  the  necessity  of  the  resolution,  with 
a  view  to  the  establishment  of  the  laws  and  the  conservation  of 
the  peace.  Though  he  did  not  venture  to  touch  on  the  resist- 
ance to  the  marshal  or  the  expulsion  of  the  proscribed,  yet  he 
strongly  arraigned  the  destruction  of  property ;  the  burning  of 
the  barn  of  Kirkpatrick,  for  instance.  'What!'  said  a  fiery 
fellow  in  the  committee,  '  do  you  blame  that  ?'  The  secretary 
found  himself  embarrassed ;  he  paused  for  a  moment.  '  If  you 
had  burned  him  in  it/  said  he,  *  it  might  have  been  something ; 
but  the  barn  had  done  no  harm,'  'Ay,  ay/  said  the  man,  'that 
is  right  enough/  I  admired  the  presence  of  mind  of  Gallatin, 
and  give  the  incident  as  a  proof  of  the  delicacy  necessary  to 
manage  the  people  on  that  occasionu" 

Opposite  this  passage  on  the  margin  of  the  page,  in  Mr. 
Gallatin's  copy  of  this  book,  is  written  in  pencil  the  following 
note,  in  his  hand : 

"  Totally  false.  It  is  what  B.  would  have  said  in  my  place. 
The  fellow  said,  'It  was  well  done.'  I  replied  instantly,  'No; 
it  was  not  well  done/  and  I  continued  to  deprecate  in  the  most 
forcible  terms  every  act  of  violence.  For  I  had  quoted  the 
burning  of  this  house  as  one  of  the  worst." 

The  result  of  the  first  day's  deliberation  was  therefore  a  sub- 
stantial success  for  the  peace  party,  not  so  much  from  what  they 
succeeded  in  effecting  as  from  the  fact  that  they  had  obtained 
energetic  leadership  and  the  efficiency  which  comes  from  confi- 
dence in  themselves.  The  resolutions  were  finally  referred  to  a 
committee  of  four, — Gallatin,  Bradford,  Herman  Husbands,  and 
Brackenridge;  a  curious  party  in  which  Brackenridge  must  have 
had  a  chance  to  lay  up  much  material  for  future  humor,  Brad- 
ford being  an  utterly  hollow  demagogue,  Husbands  a  religious 
lunatic,  and  Brackenridge  himself  a  professional  jester.2 

1  Incidents,  vol.  i.  p.  91. 

2  Badollet,  who  was  at  the  same  time  a  terribly  severe  critic  of  himself 
and  of  others,  had  little  patience  with  Judge  Brackenridge,  who  was  per- 
haps the  first,  and  not  far  from  being  the  best,  of  American  humorists. 
Badollet's  own  sense  of  humor   seems  not  to  have  been  acute,  to  judge 


134  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

This  committee,  or  rather  Gallatin  and  Bradford,  the  next 
morning  remodelled  the  resolutions.  The  only  point  on  which 
Bradford  insisted  was  that  the  standing  committee  to  which  all 
business  was  now  to  be  committed  should  have  power,  "  in  case 
of  any  sudden  emergency,  to  take  such  temporary  measures  as 
they  may  think  necessary." 

The  next  point  with  Gallatin  was  to  get  the  meeting  dissolved. 
The  Peace  commissioners  were  expected  soon  to  arrive  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and  President  Washington's  procla- 
mation calling  out  the  militia  to  suppress  the  insurrection  had 
already  been  received.  In  the  general  tendency  of  things  the 
army  could  hardly  fail  to  decide  the  contest  in  favor  of  the  peace 
party  by  the  mere  moral  effect  of  its  advance ;  but  at  the  moment 
the  news  excited  and  exasperated  the  violent,  who  were  a  very 
large  proportion,  if  not  a  majority,  of  the  meeting.  The  com- 
mittee of  sixty  was  chosen,  one  from  each  township,  from  whom 
another  committee  of  twelve  was  selected  to  confer  with  the  Fed- 
eral and  State  commissioners.  The  final  struggle  came  upon 
the  question  whether  the  meeting  should  be  now  dissolved,  or 
should  wait  for  a  report  from  their  committee  of  twelve  after 

from  the  following  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  to  Gallatin,  dated  13th 
February,  1790 : 

"  J'ai  vu  Brakenridge  a  Cat-fish  ou  j'ai  ete  a  1'occasion  d'Archey,  et  je 
puis  declarer  en  conscience  que  de  mes  jours  je  n'ai  vu,un  si  complet  im- 
pertinent fat.  Peut-etre  ne  seras-tu  pas  fache  de  lire  une  partie  d'uhe  con- 
versation qu'il  eut  devant  moi.  Un  inconnu  (a  moi  du  moins)  voulant  le 
faire  parler,  a  ce  que  je  suppose,  lui  adresse  ainsi  la  parole  : 

"N.  I  think,  Mr.  Brakenridge,  you  are  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the 
world. 

"  B.  Yes,  sir ;  nothing  disturbs  me.  I  can  declare  that  I  never  feel  a 
single  moment  of  discontent,  but  laugh  at  everything. 

"N.  I  believe  so,  sir;  but  your  humor  .  .  . 

"  B.  Oh,  sir,  truly  inexhaustible ;  yes,  truly  inexhaustible, — et  tout  en 
disant  ces  mots  avec  complaisance  il  tirait  ses  manchettes  et  son  jabot, 
caressait  son  visage  de  sa  main,  et  souriait  en  Narcisse, — truly  inexhaust- 
ible. Sir,  I  could  set  down  and  write  a  piece  of  humor  for  fifty-seven  years 
without  being  the  least  exhausted.  I  have  just  now  two  compositions 
agoing.  .  .  . 

"  N.  Happy  turn  of  mind  ! 

"  B.  You  may  say  that,  sir.  I  enjoy  a  truly  inexhaustible  richness  and 
strength  of  mind,  &c  ,  &c." 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  135 

a  conference  with  the  commissioners  of  the  government.  Both 
Gallatin  and  Brackenridge  exerted  themselves  very  much  in 
carrying  this  point,  and  after  great  difficulty  succeeded  in  getting 
a  dissolution.1 

The  result  of  the  Parkinson's  Ferry  meeting  was  practically 
to  break  the  power  of  the  insurrectionary  party.  Bradford  and 
his  friends,  instead  of  carrying  the  whole  country  with  them, 
were  checked,  outmano3iivred,  and  lost  their  prestige  at  the  mo- 
ment when  the  calling  out  of  a  Federal  army  made  their  cause 
quite  desperate;  nevertheless,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  com- 
mittee of  sixty  was  chosen  by  the  meeting,  and  therefore  was  of 
doubtful  complexion,  much  remained  to  be  done  in  order  to 
bring  about  complete  submission ;  above  all,  time  was  needed, 
and  the  government  could  not  allow  time,  owing  to  the  military 
necessity  of  immediate  action. 

On  the  20th  August  the  committee  of  twelve  held  their  con- 
ference with  the  government  commissioners  at  Pittsburg.  All 
except  Bradford  favored  submission  and  acceptance  of  the  very 
liberal  terms  offered  by  the  government.  The  committee  of  sixty 
was  called  together  at  Redstone  Old  Fort  (Brownsville)  on  the 
28th.  It  was  a  nervous  moment.  The  committee  itself  was  in 
doubt,  and  the  desperate  party  was  encouraged  by  the  accidental 
presence  of  sixty  or  seventy  riflemen,  whose  threatening  attitude 
very  nearly  put  Brackenridge's  nerves  to  a  fatal  test;  the  simple 
candor  with  which  he  relates  how  Gallatin  held  him  up  and  car- 
ried him  through  the  trial  is  very  honorable  to  his  character.2 
The  committee  met;  Bradford  attempted  to  drive  it  into  an 
immediate  decision  and  rejection  of  the  terms,  and  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  a  postponement  till  the  next  day  was  obtained. 
Such  was  the  alarm  among  the  twelve  conferees  that  Gallatin's 
determination  to  make  the  effort,  cost  what  it  might,  seems  to 
have  been  the  final  reason  which  decided  them  to  support  their 

1  "In  the  report  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  to  the  Presi 
dent,  it  was  most  erroneously  stated  that  I  wanted  the  committee,  viz.,  the 
Parkinson's  Ferry  members,  to  remain  till  the  twelve  commissioners  or 
conferees  should  report.     The  reverse  was  the  fact."     Marginal  note  by 
Mr.  Gallatin  on  pp.  98-99  of  Brackenridge 's  Incidents. 

2  Incidents,  vol.  i.  p.  111. 


136  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

own  report  ;*  even  then  they  only  ventured  to  propose  half  of 
it ;  they  made  their  struggle  on  the  question  of  accepting  the  gov- 
ernment proposals,  not  on  that  of  submission.  The  next  morn- 
ing Gallatin  took  the  lead ;  no  one  else  had  the  courage.  "  The 
committee  having  convened,  with  a  formidable  gallery,  as  the  day 
before,  Gallatin  addressed  the  chair  in  a  speech  of  some  hours. 
It  was  a  piece  of  perfect  eloquence,  and  was  heard  with  attention 
and  without  disturbance."2  This  is  all  that  is  known  of  what 
was,  perhaps,  Mr.  Gallatin's  greatest  effort.  Brackenridge  fol- 
lowed, and  this  time  spoke  with  decision,  notwithstanding  his 
alarm.  Then  Bradford  rose  and  vehemently  challenged  the  full 
force  of  the  alternative  which  Gallatin  and  Brackenridge  had 
described ;  he  advocated  the  creation  of  an  independent  govern- 
ment and  war  on  the  United  States.  James  Edgar  followed, 
with  a  strong  appeal  in  favor  of  the  report.  William  Findley, 
who  should  have  been  a  good  judge,  says,  "  I  had  never  heard 
speeches  that  I  more  ardently  desired  to  see  in  print  than  those 
delivered  on  this  occasion.  They  would  not  only  be  valuable 
on  account  of  the  oratory  and  information  displayed  in  all  the 
three,  and  especially  in  Gallatin's,  who  opened  the  way,  but  they 
would  also  have  been  the  best  history  of  the  spirit  and  the  mis- 
takes which  then  actuated  men's  minds.  But  copies  of  them 
could  not  be  procured.  They  were  delivered  without  any  pre- 
vious preparation  other  than  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  actual 
state  of  things  and  of  human  nature  when  in  similar  circum- 
stances. This  knowledge,  and  the  importance  of  the  occasion  on 
which  it  was  exhibited,  produced  such  ingenuity  of  reasoning  and 
energy  of  expression  as  never  perhaps  had  been  exhibited  by  the 
same  orators  before." 

Bradford's  power  was  not  yet  quite  broken;  even  on  the 
frontiers  human  nature  is  timid,  and  a  generation  which  was 
shuddering  at  the  atrocities  of  Robespierre  might  not  unreason- 
ably shrink  from  the  possibilities  of  David  Bradford.  Gallatin 
pressed  a  vote,  but  could  not  induce  the  committee  to  take  it; 


1  Findley,  History  of  the  Insurrection,  p.  122 ;  Brackenridge,  Incidents, 
vol.  i.  p.  111. 

2  Brackenridge,  Incidents,  vol.  i.  p.  112. 


1794.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  137 

the  twelve  conferees  alone  supported  him.  He  then  proposed 
an  informal  vote,  and  still  the  sixty  hesitated.  At  last  a  member 
suggested  that  Mr.  Gallatin,  as  secretary,  should  write  the  words 
"  yea"  and  "  nay"  on  sixty  scraps  of  paper,  and,  after  distrib- 
uting them  among  the  members,  should  collect  the  votes  in  a 
hat.  This  expedient  was,  of  course,  highly  satisfactory  to  Gal- 
latin, and  Bradford  could  not  openly  oppose.  It  was  adopted, 
and,  with  these  precautions,  the  vote  was  taken,  each  man,  of  his 
own  accord,  carefully  concealing  his  ballot  and  destroying  that 
part  of  the  paper  on  which  was  the  yea  or  nay  not  voted. 

The  tickets  were  taken  out  of  the  hat  and  counted ;  there 
were  34  yeas  and  23  nays ;  Gallatin  had  won  the  battle.  The 
galleries  grumbled ;  the  minority  were  enraged ;  Bradford's  face 
fell  and  his  courage  sank.  Outwardly  the  public  expressed 
dissatisfaction  at  the  result.  Brackenridge's  terrors  became  more 
acute  than  ever,  and  not  without  reason,  for  had  Bradford  chosen 
now  to  appeal  to  force,  he  might  have  cost  the  majority  their 
lives;  men  enough  were  at  the  meeting  ready  to  follow  him 
blindly,  but  either  his  nerves  failed  him  or  he  had  sense  to  see 
the  folly  of  the  act ;  he  allowed  the  meeting  to  adjourn,  and  he 
himself  went  home,  leaving  his  party  without  a  head  and  dis- 
solved into  mere  individual  grumblers. 

Throughout  this  meeting,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  in  personal  danger 
and  knew  it.  Any  irresponsible,  drunken  frontiersman  held  the 
lives  of  his  opponents  in  his  hands ;  a  word  from  Bradford,  the 
old,  personal  enemy  of  Gallatin,  would  have  sent  scores  of  bullets 
at  his  rival.  Doubtless  Mr.  Gallatin  believed  David  Bradford 
to  be  "  an  empty  drum,"  deficient  in  courage  as  in  understanding, 
and  on  that  belief  he  risked  his  whole  venture ;  but  it  was  a 
critical  experiment,  not  so  much  for  the  western  country,  which 
had  now  little  to  fear  from  violence,  but  for  the  obnoxious 
leader,  who,  by  common  consent,  was  held  by  friends  and  enemies 
responsible  for  the  submission  of  the  people  to  the  law. 

From  the  time  of  this  meeting,  and  the  vote  of  34  to  23  at 
Redstone  Old  Fort,  the  situation  entirely  changed  and  a  new  class 
of  difficulties  and  dangers  arose ;  it  was  no  longer  the  insurgents 
who  were  alarming,  but  the  government.  As  Bradford  on  one 
side  was  formally  giving  in  his  submission,  and,  on  finding  that 


138  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1794. 

his  speech  at  Redstone  had  put  him  outside  the  amnesty,  made 
a  rapid  and  narrow  escape  down  the  Ohio  to  Louisiana,  on  the 
other  side  an  army  of  fifteen  thousand  men  was  approaching, 
and  the  conditions  of  proffered  amnesty  could  not  be  fulfilled 
for  lack  of  time.  Before  the  terms  were  fixed  between  the  com- 
mittee of  twelve  and  the  government  commissioners,  three  days 
had  passed;  to  print  and  prepare  the  forms  of  submission  to 
be  signed  by  the  people  took  two  days  more.  The  4th  Septem- 
ber arrived  before  these  preliminaries  were  completed;  the  llth 
September  was  the  day  on  which  the  people  were  to  sign.  No 
extension  of  time  was  possible.  In  consequence  there  was  only 
a  partial  adhesion  to  the  amnesty,  and  among  those  excluded  were 
large  numbers  of  persons  who  refused  or  neglected  to  sign  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  been  in  no  way  concerned  in  the  insurrection 
and  needed  no  pardon. 

Gallatin  was  active  in  procuring  the  adhesion  of  the  citizens 
of  Fayette,  and  the  address  he  then  drafted  for  a  meeting  on 
September  10  of  the  township  committees  of  that  county  is  to 
be  found  in  his  printed  works.1  There,  indeed,  the  danger  was 
slight,  because  of  all  the  western  counties  Fayette  had  been  the 
least  disturbed ;  yet  there,  too,  numbers  were  technically  at  the 
mercy  of  the  army  and  the  law.  Mr.  Gallatin  was,  therefore, 
of  opinion  that  as  the  rebellion  was  completely  broken,  and  the 
submissions  made  on  the  llth  September,  if  not  universal,  were 
so  general  and  had  been  followed  by  such  prostration  among  the 
violent  party  as  to  preclude  the  chance  of  resistance,  a  further 
advance  of  the  army  was  inadvisable.  He  drafted  a  letter  on 
the  part  of  the  Fayette  townships  committee  to  the  governor,  on 
the  17th  September,  representing  this  view  of  the  case.2  The 
President,  however,  acting  on  the  report  of  the  government  com- 
missioners, decided  otherwise,  and  the  order  for  marching  was 
issued  on  the  25th  September. 

The  news  of  the  riots  and  disturbances  of  July  had  caused 
prompt  action  on  the  part  of  the  general  government  for  the  res- 
toration of  order,  and  on  the  7th  August,  President  Washington 
had  issued  a  proclamation  calling  out  the  militia  of  Pennsylvania, 

1  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  4.  2  Ibid,  p.  9. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  139 

New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  1st  September 
was  the  time  fixed  for  the  insurgents  to  disperse,  and  active 
preparations  were  made  for  moving  the  militia  when  ordered. 
Naturally  the  feeling  predominant  in  the  army  was  one  of 
violent  irritation,  and,  as  strict  discipline  was  hardly  to  be  ex- 
pected in  a  hastily-raised  militia  force,  there  was  reason  to  fear 
that  the  western  country  would  suffer  more  severely  from  the 
army  than  from  the  rebels.  The  arrival  of  the  President  and 
of  Secretary  Hamilton,  however,  and  their  persistent  eiforts  to 
repress  this  feeling  and  to  maintain  strict  discipline  among  the 
troops,  greatly  diminished  the  danger,  and  the  army  ultimately 
completed  its  march,  occupied  Pittsburg,  and  effected  a  number 
of  arrests  without  seriously  harassing  the  inhabitants.  Never- 
theless there  was,  perhaps  inevitably,  more  or  less  injustice  done 
to  individuals,  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  the  feeling  of  the 
army  ran  highest  against  the  least  offending  parties.  Mr.  Gallatiu 
was  one  of  the  most  obnoxious,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  a 
prominent  leader  of  opposition  to  the  excise  law  and  responsible 
for  the  violence  resulting  from  that  opposition.  In  this  there 
was  nothing  surprising;  Gallatin  was  unknown  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  troops,  and  the  victorious  party  in  politics  cannot 
be  expected  to  do  entire  justice  to  its  opponents.  So  far  as 
the  President  was  concerned,  no  one  has  ever  found  the  smallest 
matter  to  blame  in  his  bearing ;  the  only  prominent  person  con- 
nected with  the  government  whose  conduct  roused  any  bitterness 
of  feeling  was  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  It  was  asserted, 
and  may  be  believed,  that  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  in  Pittsburg 
and  other  places  conducted  the  examination  into  the  conduct 
of  individuals,  showed  a  marked  desire  to  find  evidence  in- 
criminating Gallatin.  In  what  official  character  Mr.  Hamilton 
assumed  the  duty  of  examiner,  which  seems  to  have  properly 
belonged  to  the  judicial  authorities,  does  not  appear;  Findley, 
however,  asserts  that  certain  gentlemen,  whose  names  he  gives, 
were  strictly  examined  as  witnesses  against  Gallatin,  urged  to 
testify  that  Gallatin  had  expressed  himself  in  a  treasonable  man- 
ner at  Parkinson's  Ferry,  and  when  they  denied  having  heard 

1  Findley,  History,  &c.,  p.  240. 


140  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1794. 

such  expressions,  the  Secretary  asserted  that  he  had  sufficient 
proofs  of  them  already.  It  is  not  impossible  that  Mr.  Hamilton 
really  suspected  Mr.  Gallatin  of  tampering  with  the  insurgents, 
and  really  said  that  "  he  was  a  foreigner,  and  therefore  not  to 
be  trusted;"1  it  is  not  impossible  that  he  thought  himself  in  any 
case  called  upon  to  probe  the  matter  to  the  bottom;  and  finally,  it 
is  not  impossible  that  he  foresaw  the  advantages  his  party  would 
gain  by  overthrowing  Mr.  Gallatin's  popularity.  However  this 
may  be,  the  Secretary  gave  no  public  expression  to  his  suspicions 
or  his  thoughts,  and  Gallatin  was  in  no  way  molested  or  annoyed. 

The  regular  autumnal  election  took  place  in  Pennsylvania  on 
the  14th  October.  The  army  had  not  then  arrived,  but  there 
was  no  longer  any  idea  of  resistance  or  any  sign  of  organization 
against  the  enforcement  of  all  the  laws.  More  than  a  month 
had  passed  since  order  had  been  restored;  even  Bradford  had 
submitted,  and  he  and  the  ottuer  most  deeply  implicated  insur- 
gents were  now  flying  for  their  lives.  On  the  2d  October 
another  meeting  of  the  committee  had  been  held  at  Parkinson's 
Ferry,  and  unanimously  agreed  to  resolutions  affirming  the  gen- 
eral submission  and  explaining  why  the  signatures  of  submission 
had  not  been  universal;  on  the  day  of  election  itself  written 
assurances  of  submission  were  universally  signed  throughout  the 
country ;  but  the  most  remarkable  proof  of  the  complete  triumph 
of  the  peace  party  was  found  in  the  elections  themselves. 

Members  of  Congress  were  to  be  chosen,  as  well  as  members 
of  the  State  Legislature.  Mr.  Gallatin  was,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  sent  back  to  his  old  seat  in  the  Assembly  from  his  own 
county  of  Fayette.  In  the  neighboring  Congressional  district, 
comprising  the  counties  of  Washington  and  Alleghany  and  the 
whole  country  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Virginia  line,  there  was 
some  difficulty  and  perhaps  some  misunderstanding  in  regard  to 
the  selection  of  a  candidate.  Very  suddenly,  and  without  pre- 
vious consultation,  indeed  without  even  his  own  knowledge,  and 
only  about  three  days  before  election,  Mr.  Gallatin's  name  was 
introduced.  The  result  was  that  he  was  chosen  over  Judge 
Brackenridge,  who  stood  second  on  the  poll,  while  the  candi- 

1  Findley,  p.  243. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801. 

date  of  the  insurgents,  who  had  received  Bradford's  support, 
was  lowest  among  four.  By  a  curious  reverse  of  fortune  Mr. 
Gallatin  suddenly  became  the  representative  not  of  his  own 
county  of  Fayette,  but  of  that  very  county  of  Washington  whose 
citizens,  only  a  few  weeks  before,  had  been  to  all  appearance 
violently  hostile  to  him  and  to  his  whole  course  of  action.  This 
spontaneous  popular  choice  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Gal- 
latin was  considered  by  friend  and  foe  as  the  embodiment  of 
the  principle  of  law  and  order,  and,  rightly  or  wrongly,  it  was 
believed  that  to  his  courage  and  character  the  preservation  of 
peace  was  due.  It  was  one  more  evidence  that  the  true  majority 
had  at  last  found  its  tongue. 

This  restoration  of  Mr.  Gallatin  to  Congress  was  by  no  means 
pleasing  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  who,  as  already  mentioned,  on  his 
arrival  soon  afterwards  at  Pittsburg  expressed  himself  in  strong 
terms  in  regard  to  the  choice.  From  the  party  point  of  view  it 
was,  in  fact,  a  very  undesirable  result  of  the  insurrection,  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  people  in  making  it  cast 
away  a  single  thought  on  the  question  of  party.  They  chose 
Mr.  Gallatin  because  he  represented  order. 

The  1st  November,  1794,  had  already  arrived  before  the  mili- 
tary movements  were  quite  completed.  The  army  had  then 
reached  Fayette,  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  after  having  done  all  in  his 
power  to  convince  the  government  that  the  advance  was  unneces- 
sary, set  off  with  his  wife  to  New  York,  and,  leaving  her  with 
her  family,  returned  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Assembly  at  Phila- 
delphia. Here  again  he  had  to  meet  a  contested  election.  A 
petition  from  citizens  of  Washington  County  was  presented, 
averring  that  they  had  deemed  it  impossible  to  vote,  and  had 
not  voted,  at  the  late  election,  owing  to  the  state  of  the  country, 
and  praying  that  the  county  be  declared  to  have  been  in  insur- 
rection at  the  time,  and  the  election  void.  The  debate  on  this 
subject  lasted  till  January  9, 1795,  when  a  resolution  was  adopted 
to  the  desired  effect.  In  the  course  of  this  debate  Mr.  Gallatin 
made  the  first  speech  he  had  yet  printed,  which  will  be  found  in 
his  collected  works.1  Like  all  his  writings,  it  is  a  plain,  concise, 

1  Writings,  vol.  iii.  pp.  3-52. 


142  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATI^".  1794. 

clear  statement  of  facts  and  argument,  extremely  well  done,  but 
not  remarkable  for  rhetorical  show,  and  effective  merely  because, 
or  so  far  as,  it  convinces.  He  rarely  used  hard  language  under 
any  provocation,  and  this  speech,  like  all  his  other  speeches,  is 
quite  free  from  invective  and  personality;  but,  although  his 
method  was  one  of  persuasion  rather  than  of  compulsion,  he 
always  spoke  with  boldness,  and  some  of  the  passages  in  this 
argument  grated  harshly  on  Federalist  ears. 

The  decision  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  "  that  the  elec- 
tions held  during  the  late  insurrection  .  .  .  were  unconstitutional, 
and  are  hereby  declared  void,"  was  always  regarded  by  him  as 
itself  in  clear  violation  of  the  constitution,  but  for  his  personal 
interests  a  most  fortunate  circumstance.  His  opponents  were, 
in  fact,  by  these  tactics  giving  him  a  prodigious  hold  upon  his 
party;  he  had  the  unusual  good  fortune  of  being  twice  made 
the  martyr  of  a  mere  political  persecution.  This  second  attempt 
obviously  foreshadowed  a  third,  for  if  the  election  to  the  State 
Legislature  was  unconstitutional,  that  to  Congress  was  equally  so, 
and  there  was  no  object  in  breaking  one  without  breaking  the 
other ;  but  the  action  of  the  western  country  rendered  the  folly 
of  such  a  decision  too  obvious  for  imitation.  All  the  ejected 
members  except  one,  who  declined,  were  re-elected,  and  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  took  his  seat  a  second  time  on  the  14th  February,  1795,  not 
to  be  again  disturbed.  During  this  second  part  of  the  session  he 
seems  to  have  been  chiefly  occupied  with  his  bill  in  regard  to 
the  school  system ;  but  he  closed  his  service  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature on  the  12th  of  March,  when  other  matters  pressed  on  his 
attention. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  3d  December,  1794. 

...  I  arrived  here  without  any  accident  and  have  already 
seen  several  of  my  friends.  The  Assembly  met  yesterday,  but 
my  colleague  having  neglected  to  take  down  the  return  of  our 
election  we  must  wait  as  spectators  till  it  comes,  which  will  not 
be  before  a  fortnight,  I  believe.  ...  I  saw  Dallas  yesterday. 
Poor  fellow  had  a  most  disagreeable  campaign  of  it.  He  says 
the  spirits,  I  call  it  the  madness,  of  the  Philadelphia  Gentlemen 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  143 

Corps  was  beyond  conception  before  the  arrival  of  the  President. 
He  saw  a  list  (handed  about  through  the  army  by  officers,  nay, 
by  a  general  officer)  of  the  names  of  those  persons  who  were  to 
be  destroyed  at  all  events,  and  you  may  easily  guess  my  own  was 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous.  Being  one  day  at  table  with  sun- 
dry officers,  and  having  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  army  were 
going  only  to  support  the  civil  authority  and  not  to  do  any  mili- 
tary execution,  one  of  them  (Dallas  did  not  tell  me  his  name,  but 
I  am  told  it  was  one  Ross,  of  Lancaster,  aide-de-camp  to  Mifflin) 
half  drew  a  dagger  he  wore  instead  of  a  sword,  and  swore  any 
man  who  uttered  such  sentiments  ought  to  be  dagged.  The 
President,  however,  on  his  arrival,  and  afterwards  Hamilton, 
took  uncommon  pains  to  change  the  sentiments,  and  at  last  it 
became  fashionable  to  adopt,  or  at  least  to  express,  sentiments 
similar  to  those  inculcated  by  them.  .  .  . 

7th  December,  1794. 

.  .  .  You  want  me  to  leave  politics,  but  I  guess  I  need  not 
take  much  pains  to  attain  that  object,  for  politics  seem  disposed 
to  leave  me.  A  very  serious  attempt  is  made  to  deprive  me  of 
my  seat  in  next  Congress.  The  intention  is  to  try  to  induce  the 
Legislature  of  this  State  either  to  vacate  the  seats  of  the  mem- 
bers for  the  counties  of  Alleghany  and  Washington,  or  to  pass  a 
law  to  declare  the  whole  election  both  for  Congress  and  Assem- 
bly in  that  district  to  be  null  and  void,  and  to  appoint  another 
day  for  holding  the  same.  If  they  fail  in  that  they  will  pursue 
the  thing  before  Congress.  A  petition  was  accordingly  presented 
to  the  Legislature  last  Friday,  signed  by  thirty-four  persons, 
calling  themselves  peaceable  inhabitants  of  Washington  County, 
and  requesting  the  Assembly  to  declare  the  district  to  have  been 
in  a  state  of  insurrection  at  the  time  of  the  election,  and  to  vacate 
the  same.  John  Hoge,  who,  however,  has  not  signed  it,  is  the 
ostensible  character  who  has  offered  it  to  be  signed,  but  he  did 
not  draw  it,  and  I  know  the  business  originated  in  the  army.  It 
is  couched  in  the  most  indecent  language  against  all  the  members 
elect  from  that  district.  Did  those  poor  people  know  how  little 
they  torment  me  by  tormenting  themselves,  I  guess  they  would 
not  be  so  anxious  to  raise  a  second  persecution  against  me. 


144  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1794. 

GALLATIN  TO  BADOLLET,  GREENSBURG,  WASHINGTON  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA,  10th  January,  1795. 

.  .  .  Savary  writes  you  on  the  fate  of  our  elections.  One 
thing  only  I  wish  and  I  must  insist  upon.  If  the  same  mem- 
bers are  not  re-elected,  the  people  here  will  undoubtedly  say 
that  our  last  elections  were  not  fair  and  that  the  people  were  in 
a  state  of  insurrection.  The  only  danger  I  can  foresee  arises 
from  your  district.  You  have  been  ill-treated;  you  have  no 
member  now,  and  every  engine  will  now  be  set  at  work  to  mis- 
lead you  by  your  very  opponents.  Fall  not  in  the  snare ;  take  up 
nobody  from  your  own  district ;  re-elect  unanimously  the  same 
members,  whether  they  be  your  favorites  or  not.  It  is  necessary 
for  the  sake  of  our  general  character.  .  .  . 

Meanwhile,  a  new  scheme  was  brought  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  atten- 
tion. The  French  revolution  produced  a  convulsion  in  Geneva. 
Large  numbers  of  the  Genevese  emigrated  or  thought  of  emigra- 
tion. Mr.  Gallatin  was  consulted  and  made  a  plan  for  a  joint- 
stock  company,  to  form  a  settlement  by  immigration  from  Geneva. 
The  expected  immigration  never  came,  but  this  scheme  ended  in 
an  unforeseen  way ;  Mr.  Gallatin  joined  one  or  two  of  the  origi- 
nators of  the  plan  in  creating  another  joint-stock  company,  and 
his  mind  was  long  busied  with  its  affairs. 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  29th  December,  1794. 

Mon  bon  ami,  si  je  t'ecris  cette  lettre  en  fran9ais  ce  n'est  pas 
qu'elle  contienne  des  secrets  d'6tat,  car  je  n'en  ai  point  a  te  dire, 
mais  c'est  qu'elle  renferme  plusieurs  choses  particulieres  et  qui 
jusqu'a  nouvel  ordre  doivent  rester  entre  toi  et  moi  absolument. 
.  .  .  Le  retour  de  mon  election  est  ou  perdu  ou  n'a  jamais  e*te" 
envoye,  en  sorte  que  je  n'ai  pas  encore  pu  prendre  siege  dans 
P  Assembled,  et  demain  1'on  va  decider  si  Felection  de  nos  quatre 
comtes  sera  cassee  ou  non,  sans  que  je  puisse  prendre  part  aux 
de*bats.  .  .  .  Ci-inclus  tu  trouveras  un  abridge*  de  la  derni£re 
revolution  de  Genfcve,  4crit  par  D'Yvernois  qui  est  a  Londres. 


1794.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  145 

Geneve  est  dans  la  situation  la  plus  triste.  Affam6  e"galement 
par  les  Fra^ais  et  par  les  Suisses,  de"chir6  par  des  convulsions 
sanguinaires  auxquelles  Pesprit  national  paraissait  si  oppose",  une 
grande  partie  de  ses  habitants  cherchent,  et  beaucoup  sont  obliges 
de  quitter  ses  murs.  Plusieurs  tournent  leurs  yeux  vers  PAme*- 
rique  et  quelques-uns  sont  deja  arrives.  D'Yvernois  avait  forme 
le  plan  de  transplanter  toute  Puniversite  de  Geneve  ici,  et  il  m'a 
ecrit  sur  cet  objet  ainsi  qu'a  Mr.  Jeiferson  et  a  Mr.  Adams;  mais 
il  supposait  qu'on  pourrait  obtenir  des  £tats-Unis  pour  cet  objet 
15,000  dollars  de  revenu,  ce  qui  est  impraticable ;  et  il  comptait 
associer  a  ce  projet  une  compagnie  de  terres  par  actions  avec  un 
capital  de  3  a  400,000  piastres.  I>'un  autre  c6te"  les  Genevois 
arrives  ici  cherchaient  tant  pour  eux  que  pour  ceux  qui  devaient 
les  suivre  quelque  mani£re  de  s'e"tablir,  de  devenir  fermiers,  &c. 
Us  se  sont  adresses  a  moi,  et  d'apre\s  les  lettres  de  D'  Yvernois  et  les 
conversations  que  les  nouveaux  arrives  et  moi  avons  eues  ensem- 
ble, nous  avons  forme"  un  plan  d'e"tablissement  et  une  soci&4  dans 
laquelle  je  t'ai  reserve"  une  part.  En  voici  les  fondements.  .  .  . 
Tu  sais  bien  que  je  n'ai  jamais  encourage"  personne  except^  toi  a 
venir  en  Ame"rique  de  peur  qu'ils  n'y  trouvassent  des  regrets, 
mais  les  temps  ont  change".  II  faut  que  beaucoup  de  Genevois 
e"migrent  et  un  grand  nombre  vont  venir  en  Ame"rique.  J'ai 
trouve"  autant  de  plaisir  que  c'etait  de  mon  devoir  de  tacher  de 
leur  oifrir  le  plan  qui  m'a  paru  devoir  leur  convenir  le  mieux  en 
arrivant.  En  ler  lieu  j'ai  cru  qu'il  serait  essentiel  qu'ils  fussent 
r^unis,  non-seulement  pour  pouvoir  s'entr'aider,  mais  aussi  afin 
d^tre  a  m^me  de  retrouver  leurs  moeurs,  leurs  habitudes  et  me'me 
leurs  amusements  de  Geneve.  2e,  que,  comme  il  y  aurait  parmi 
les  Emigrants  bien  des  artisans,  hommes  de  lettres,  &c.,  et  qu'il 
e"tait  bon  d'ailleurs  d'avoir  plus  d'une  ressource,  il  conviendrait 
de  former  une  ville  ou  village  dans  le  centre  d'un  corps  de  terres 
qu'on  acheterait  pour  cela,  en  sorte  qu'on  put  exercer  une  indus- 
trie  de  ville  ou  de  campagne  suivant  les  gouts  et  les  talents.  Ci- 
inclus  tu  trouveras  deux  papiers  que  je  viens  de  retrouver  et  qui 
renferment  une  esquisse  des  premieres  ide"es  que  j'avais  jete"es  sur 
les  papiers  sur  ce  sujet,  et  le  brouillon  de  notre  plan  d^association 
qui  consiste  de  150  actions  de  800  piastres  chacune,  dont  nous 
Genevois  ici,  savoir  Odier,  Fazzi,  deux  Cazenove,  Cheriot,  Bour- 

10 


146  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1795. 

dillon,  Duby,  Couronne,  toi  et  moi  avons  pris  25 ;  nous  en  offrons 
25  autres  ici  a  des  Ame"ricains  et  je  les  ai  deja  presque  toutes  dis- 
tributes ;  je  crois  mdme  que  je  pourrais  distribuer  cent  de  plus  ici 
sur-le-champ  si  je  voulais;  et  nous  avons  envoy  e"  les  cent  autres 
a  Geneve,  en  Suisse,  et  a  D'Yvernois  pour  les  Genevois  qui  vou- 
dront  y  prendre  part.  .  .  .  En  attendant  une  re"ponse  de  Geneve 
nous  comptons  examiner  les  terres  et  peut-£tre  me'me  en  acheter, 
si  nous  le  croyons  ne*cessaire.  II  est  entendu  que  c'est  a  toi  et  a 
moi  a  faire  cet  examen,  car  c'est  surtout  a  nous  que  s'en  rapportent 
tant  les  e'migre's  que  ceux  qui  doivent  les  suivre.  J'ai  jete"  les 
yeux  en  general  sur  la  partie  nord-est  de  la  Pennsilvanie  on  sur 
la  partie  de  New  York  qui  la  joint.  Jette  les  yeux  sur  la  carte 
et  trouve  Stockport  sur  la  Delaware  et  Harmony  tout  pres  de  la 
sitr  la  Susqtiehannah  joignant  presque  Pe"tat  de  New  York.  Des 
gens  qui  veulent  s'inte"resser  a  la  chose  m'offrent  le  corps  de  terres 
compris  entre  le  Big  Bend  de  la  Susquehannah  joignant  Harmony 
et  la  ligne  de  New  York;  mais  il  faut  d'abord  examiner.  Si  on 
casse  nos  elections,  j'emploierai  a  ce  travail  cet  hiver ;  sinon,  c'est 
sur  toi  que  nous  comptons,  bien  entendu  que  quoique  ce  ne  fut 
pas  aussi  ne"cessaire,  il  me  serait  bien  plus  agreable  que  tu  pusses 
aller  avec  moi  si  j'allais  moi-me"me.  .  .  . 

In  April,  1795,  he  made  an  expedition  through  New  York  to 
examine  lands  with  a  view  to  purchase  for  the  projected  Geneva 
settlement.  This  expedition  brought  him  at  last  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  detained  till  August  by  the  trials  of  the  insurgents 
and  by  the  business  of  his  various  joint-stock  schemes. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE. 

CATSKILL  LANDING,  22d  April,  1795. 

.  .  .  The  more  I  see  of  this  State  the  better  I  like  Pennsyl- 
vania. It  may  be  prejudice,  or  habit,  or  whatever  you  please, 
but  there  are  some  things  in  the  western  country  which  contrib- 
ute to  my  happiness,  and  which  I  do  not  find  here.  Amongst 
other  things  which  displease  me  here  I  may  mention,  in  the  first 
place,  family  influence.  In  Pennsylvania  not  only  we  have  neither 
Livingstones  nor  Rensselaers,  but  from  the  suburbs  of  Philadel- 


1795.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  147 

phia  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  I  do  not  know  a  single  family  that 
has  any  extensive  influence.  An  equal  distribution  of  property 
has  rendered  every  individual  independent,  and  there  is  amongst 
us  true  and  real  equality.  In  the  next  place,  the  lands  on  the 
western  side  of  the  river  are  far  inferior  in  quality  to  those  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  third  place,  provisions  bear  the  same 
price  as  they  do  in  New  York,  whence  arises  a  real  disadvantage 
for  persons  wishing  to  buy  land ;  for  the  farmers  will  sell  the 
land  in  proportion  to  the  price  they  can  get  for  their  produce, 
and  that  price  being  at  present  quite  extravagant  and  above  the 
average  and  common  one,  the  consequence  is  that  the  supposed 
value  of  land  is  also  much  greater.  In  a  word,  as  I  am  lazy  I 
like  a  country  where  living  is  cheap,  and  as  I  am  poor  I  like  a 
country  where  no  person  is  very  rich.  .  .  . 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  6,  1795. 

...  I  arrived  here  yesterday,  pretty  much  jolted  by  the 
wagon,  and  went  to  bed  in  the  afternoon,  so  that  I  saw  nobody 
till  this  morning.  .  .  .  Hardly  had  I  walked  ten  minutes  in  the 
streets  this  morning  before  I  was  summoned  as  a  witness  before 
the  grand  jury  on  the  part  of  government,  and  must  appear  there 
in  a  few  minutes.  .  .  . 

8th  May,  1796. 

...  I  wrote  you  that  I  was  summoned  on  behalf  of  gov- 
ernment. I  am  obliged  to  attend  every  day  at  court,  but  have 
not  yet  been  called  upon.  I  am  told  the  bill  upon  which  I  am 
to  be  examined  is  not  yet  filled.  I  guess  it  is  against  Colonel 
Gaddis ;  but  I  have,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  nothing  to  say 
which  in  my  opinion  can  hurt  him.  You  remember  that  Gaddis 
is  the  man  who  gave  an  affidavit  to  Lee  against  me.  He  came 
yesterday  to  me  to  inform  me  that  he  meant  to  have  me  sum- 
moned in  his  favor,  as  he  thought  my  testimony  must  get  him 
discharged.  I  did  not  speak  to  him  about  his  affidavit,  nor  he 
to  me,  but  he  had  a  guilty  look.  I  guess  the  man  was  fright- 
ened, and  now  feels  disappointed  in  his  hope  that  his  accusing 
me  would  discharge  him.  The  petty  jury  consists  of  twelve 
from  each  of  the  counties  of  Fayette,  Washington,  and  Alle- 
ghany,  and  twelve  from  Northumberland,  but  none  from  West- 


148  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALL  AT  IN.  1795. 

moreland.  Your  friend  Sproat  is  one  of  them,  Hoge  another. 
All  from  Fayette  supposed  to  have  been  always  friendly  to  the 
excise,  but  I  think  in  general  good  characters.  All  those  of 
any  note  known  to  have  been  in  general  of  different  politics 
with  us.  ... 

12th  May,  1795. 

.  .  .  The  two  bills  for  treason  against  Mr.  Corbly  and  Mr. 
Gaddis  have  been  returned  ignoramus  by  the  grand  jury ;  but 
there  are  two  bills  found  against  them  for  misdemeanor, — against 
the  first  for  some  expressions,  against  the  last  for  having  been 
concerned  in  raising  the  liberty-pole  in  Union  town.  I  am  a 
witness  in  both  cases, — in  the  case  of  Mr.  Corbly  altogether  in 
his  favor;  in  the  other  case  my  evidence  will  about  balance 
itself.  .  .  .  The  grand  jury  have  not  yet  finished  their  inquiry, 
but  will  conclude  it  this  morning.  They  have  found  twenty- 
two  bills  for  treason.  Some  of  those  against  whom  bills  were 
found  are  not  here ;  but  I  believe  fourteen  are  in  jail  and  will 
be  tried.  I  do  not  know  one  of  them.  John  Hamilton,  Sedg- 
wick,  and  Crawford,  whom  Judge  Peters  would  not  admit  to 
bail,  and  who  were  released  little  before  we  left  town,  after 
having  been  dragged  three  hundred  miles  and  being  in  jail 
three  months,  are  altogether  cleared,  the  grand  jury  not  having 
even  found  bills  for  misdemeanor  against  them.  After  the 
strictest  inquiry  the  attorney-general  could  send  to  the  grand 
jury  bills  only  against  two  inhabitants  of  Fayette,  to  wit,  Gaddis 
and  one  Mounts ;  he  sent  two  against  each  of  them,  one  for 
treason  and  one  for  misdemeanor.  In  the  case  of  Mounts,  who 
has  been  in  jail  more  than  five  months,  and  who  was  not  ad- 
mitted to  give  bail,  although  the  best  security  was  offered,  not  a 
shadow  of  proof  appeared,  although  the  county  was  ransacked 
for  witnesses,,  and  both  bills  were  found  ignoramus.  And  it  is 
proper  to  observe  that  the  grand  jury,  who  are  respectable,  were, 
however,  all  taken  from  Philadelphia  and  its  neighborhood,  and, 
with  only  one  or  two  exceptions,  out  of  one  party,  so  that  they 
cannot  be  suspected  of  partiality.  In  the  case  of  Gaddis  the 
bill  for  treason  was  returned  ignoramus;  the  bill  for  misde- 
meanor was  found.  So  that  the  whole  insurrection  of  Fayette 
County  amounts  to  one  man  accused  of  misdemeanor  for  raising 


1795.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  149 

a  pole.  I  can  form  no  guess  as  to  the  fate  of  the  prisoners  who 
are  to  be  tried  for  treason,  and  whether,  in  case  any  are  found 
guilty,  government  mean  to  put  any  to  death.  There  is  not  a 
single  man  of  influence  or  consequence  amongst  them,  which 
makes  me  hope  they  may  be  pardoned.  There  is  one,  however, 
who  is  said  to  be  Tom  the  Tinker ;  he  is  a  New  England  man, 
who  was  concerned  in  Shay's  insurrection,  but  it  is  asserted  that 
he  signed  the  amnesty.  I  have  had  nothing  but  that  business 
in  my  head  since  I  have  been  kere,  and  can  write  about  nothing 
else.  .  .  . 

25th  May,  1795. 

I  believe,  my  dear  little  wife,  that  I  will  not  be  able  to  see 
thee  till  next  week,  for  the  trials  go  on  but  very  slowly ;  there 
has  been  but  one  since  my  last  letter,  and  there  are  nine  more 
for  high  treason,  besides  misdemeanors.  I  am  sorry  to  add  that 
the  man  who  was  tried  was  found  guilty  of  high  treason.  He 
had  a  very  good  and  favorable  jury,  six  of  them  from  Fayette; 
for,  although  he  is  from  Westmoreland  County,  the  fact  was 
committed  in  Fayette.  .  .  .  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  man 
[Philip  Vigel]  being  guilty  in  a  legal  sense  of  levying  war 
against  the  United  States,  which  was  the  crime  charged  to  him. 
But  he  is  certainly  an  object  of  pity  more  than  of  punishment, 
at  least  when  we  consider  that  death  is  the  punishment,  for  he 
is  a  rough,  ignorant  German,  who  knew  very  well  he  was  com- 
mitting a  riot,  and  he  ought  to  have  been  punished  for  it,  but 
who  had  certainly  no  idea  that  it  amounted  to  levying  war  and 
high  treason.  .  .  . 

1st  June,  1795. 

.  .  .  Those  trials  go  still  very  slowly,  only  two  since  I  wrote 
to  you ;  the  men  called  Curtis  and  Barnet,  both  indicted  for  the 
attack  upon  and  burning  NeviPs  house,  and  both  acquitted ;  the 
first  without  much  hesitation,  as  there  was  at  least  a  strong  pre- 
sumption that  he  went  there  either  to  prevent  mischief  or  at  most 
only  as  a  spectator.  The  second  was  as  guilty  as  Mitchell,  who 
has  been  condemned,  but  there  were  not  sufficient  legal  proofs 
against  either.  The  difference  in  the  verdict  arises  from  the 
difference  of  counsel  employed  in  their  respective  defences,  and 


150  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1795 

chiefly  from  a  different  choice  of  jury.  Mitchell  was  very  poorly 
defended  by  Thomas,  the  member  of  Senate,  who  is  young,  un- 
experienced, impudent,  and  self-conceited.  He  challenged  (that 
is  to  say,  rejected,  for,  you  know,  the  accused  person  has  a  right 
to  reject  thirty-five  of  the  jury  without  assigning  any  reason) 
every  inhabitant  of  Alleghany,  and  left  the  case  to  twelve 
Quakers  (many  of  them  probably  old  Tories),  on  the  supposition 
that  Quakers  would  condemn  no  person  to  death ;  but  he  was 
utterly  mistaken.  Lewis  defended  Barnet,  made  a  very  good 
defence,  and  got  a  jury  of  a  different  complexion;  the  conse- 
quence of  which  was  that,  although  the  evidence,  pleadings,  and 
charge  took  up  from  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  till  three 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  jury  were  but  fifteen  minutes  out 
before  they  brought  in  a  verdict  of  not  guilty.  Brackenridge 
says  that  he  would  always  choose  a  jury  of  Quakers,  or  at  least 
Episcopalians,  in  all  common  cases,  such  as  murder,  rape,  etc., 
but  in  every  possible  case  of  insurrection,  rebellion,  and  treason, 
give  him  Presbyterians  on  the  jury  by  all  means.  I  believe 
there  is  at  least  as  much  truth  as  wit  in  the  saying.  .  .  »  I  have 
drawn,  at  the  request  of  the  jury  who  convicted  Philip  Vigel,  a 
petition  to  the  President  recommending  him  as  a  proper  object 
of  mercy ;  they  have  all  signed  it,  but  what  effect  it  will  have 
I  do  not  know,  and  indeed  nobody  can  form  any  conjecture 
whether  the  persons  convicted  will  be  pardoned  or  not.  It  rests 
solely  with  the  President.  »  .  . 

GALLATIN  TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  20th  May,  1795. 

I  am  sorry,  my  dear  friend,  that  I  cannot  go  and  meet  you, 
agreeable  to  our  appointment ;  but  I  am  detained  here  as  an  evi- 
dence in  the  case  of  Corbly,  and  of  two  more  in  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  although  I  know  nothing  about  any  of  them  ex- 
cept Corbly.  I  lend  my  horse  to  Cazenove,  who  goes  in  my 
room,  and  who  will  tell  you  what  little  has  passed  since  I  saw 
you  on  the  subject  of  our  plan.  Upon  the  whole,  I  conceive  that 
further  emigrations  from  Geneva  will  not  take  place  at  present, 
and  that  our  plan  will  not  be  accepted  in  Europe.  We  must 
therefore  depend  merely  on  our  own  present  number  and  strength, 


1795.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  151 

and  this  you  should  keep  in  view  in  the  course  of  the  examina- 
tion you  are  now  making.  Our  own  convenience  and  the  inter- 
est of  those  few  Genevans  who  now  are  here  must  alone  be 
consulted,  and  it  may  be  a  question  whether  under  those  circum- 
stances it  will  be  worth  while  for  you  and  me  to  abandon  our 
present  situation,  and  for  them  to  encounter  the  hardships  and 
hazards  of  a  new  settlement  in  the  rough  country  you  are  now 
exploring ;  whether,  on  the  contrary,  it  would  not  be  more  ad- 
vantageous for  them  to  fix  either  in  the  more  populous  parts  of 
the  State,  or  even  in  our  own  neighborhood,  where  they  might 
perhaps  find  resources  sufficient  for  a  few  and  enjoy  all  the 
advantages  resulting  from  our  neighborhood,  experience,  and 
influence. 

GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  29th  June,  1795. 

.  .  .  You  will  see  in  this  day's  Philadelphia  paper  an  ab- 
stract of  the  treaty ;  it  is  pretty  accurate,  for  I  read  the  treaty 
itself  yesterday.  I  believe  it  will  be  printed  at  large  within  a 
day  or  two.  It  exceeds  everything  I  expected.  ...  As  to  the 
form  of  ratification  I  have  not  seen  it,  but  from  the  best  infor- 
mation I  could  collect  it  is  different  from  what  has  been  printed 
in  some  papers.  It  is,  I  think,  nearly  as  followeth  :  The  Senate 
consent  to  and  advise  the  President  to  ratify  the  treaty  upon 
condition  that  an  additional  article  be  added  to  the  same  sus- 
pending the  operation  of,  or  explaining  (I  do  not  know  which), 
the  12th  Article,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  intercourse  with  the 
West  India  Islands.  If  that  information  is  accurate,  it  follows 
that  the  treaty  is  not  ratified,  because  the  intended  additional 
article,  if  adopted  by  Great  Britain,  is  not  valid  until  ratified  by 
the  Senate,  and  unless  that  further  ratification  takes  place  the 
whole  treaty  falls  through.  You  know  the  vote,  and  that  Gunn 
is  the  man  who  has  joined  the  ratifying  party.  I  am  told  that 
Burr  made  a  most  excellent  speech.  ...  I  think  fortitude  is  a 
quality  which  depends  very  much  upon  ourselves,  and  which  we 
lose  more  and  more  for  want  of  exercising  it.  Indeed,  I  want  it 
now  myself  more  than  you.  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from 
one  of  my  uncles,  under  date  23d  January,  which  informs  me 


152  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1795. 

that  Miss  Pictet  is  dangerously  ill  and  very  little  hope  of  her 
recovering.  She  had  not  yet  received  my  and  your  letter.  I 
hope  she  may,  for  I  know  how  much  consolation  it  would  give 
her ;  but  I  have  not  behaved  well.  .  .  . 

Gallatin  remained  in  Philadelphia  till  July  31,  to  form  a 
new  company,  dissolving  the  old  one,  and  joining  with  Bour- 
dillon,  Cazenove,  Badollet,  and  his  brother-in-law,  James  W. 
Nicholson,  in  a  concern  with  nine  or  ten  thousand  dollars  capital, 
the  business  being  ato  purchase  lots  at  the  mouth  of  George's 
Creek,"  "  a  mill  or  two"  in  the  neighborhood,  keeping  a  retail 
store  and  perhaps  two  (the  main  business),  and  land  speculations 
on  their  own  account  and  on  commission.  After  settling  the 
partnership  he  remained  to  buy  supplies  and  to  get  money  from 
Morris,  who  at  last  paid  him  eight  hundred  dollars  cash  and 
gave  a  note  at  ninety  days  for  a  thousand.  On  July  31  he 
started  for  Fayette. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  31st  July,  1795. 

.  .  .  After  being  detained  here  two  days  by  the  rain,  we 
finally  go  this  moment.  ...  I  have  settled  with  Mr.  Morris. 
...  I  have  balanced  all  my  accounts,  and  find  that  we  are  just 
worth  7000  dollars.  ...  In  addition  to  that,  we  have  our  plan- 
tation, Mr.  Morris's  note  for  3600  dollars,  due  next  May,  and 
about  25,000  acres  waste  lands.  .  .  . 

FAYETTE  COUNTY,  September  6,  1795. 

.  .  .  Upon  a  further  examination  of  Wilson's  estate  I  have 
purchased  it  at  £3000,  which  is  a  high  price,  but  then  we  have 
the  town  seat  (which  is  the  nearest  portage  from  the  western 
waters  to  the  Potowmack  and  the  Federal  city,  and  as  near  as 
any  to  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore)  and  three  mill  seats,  one 
built,  another  building,  and  the  third,  which  is  the  most  valuable, 
will  be  on  the  river-bank,  so  that  we  will  be  able  to  load  boats 
for  New  Orleans  from  the  mill-door,  and  they  stand  upon  one  of 
the  best,  if  not  the  very  best,  stream  of  the  whole  country.  The 
boat-yards  fall  also  within  our  purchase,  so  that,  with  a  good 


1795.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801.  153 

store,  we  will,  in  a  great  degree,  command  the  trade  of  this  part 
of  the  country.  I  have  also  purchased,  for  about  £300,  all  the 
lots  that  remained  unsold  in  the  little  village  of  Greensburgh, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  opposite  to  our  large  purchase, 
and  20  acres  of  the  bottom-land  adjoining  it.  It  will  become 
necessary,  of  course,  for  us  to  increase  our  capital.  ...  As 
to  politics,  I  have  thought  but  little  about  them  since  I  have 
been  here.  I  wish  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  may  not  involve 
us  in  a  more  serious  situation  than  we  have  yet  been  in.  May 
I  be  mistaken  in  my  fears  and  everything  be  for  the  best !  I 
would  not  heretofore  write  to  you  on  the  subject  of  the  dispute 
between  your  father  and  Hamilton,  as  I  knew  you  were  not  ac- 
quainted with  it.  I  feel  indeed  exceedingly  happy  that  it  has 
terminated  so,  but  I  beg  of  you  not  to  express  your  sentiments 
of  the  treatment  I  have  received  with  as  much  warmth  as  you 
usually  do,  for  it  may  tend  to  inflame  the  passions  of  your  friends 
and  lead  to  consequences  you  would  forever  regret.  It  has  in- 
deed required  all  my  coolness  and  temper,  and  I  might  perhaps 
add,  all  my  love  for  you,  not  to  involve  myself  in  some  quarrel 
with  that  gentleman  or  some  other  of  that  description ;  but,  how- 
ever sure  you  may  be  that  I  will  not  myself,  others  may,  so  that 
I  trust  that  my  good  girl  will  be  more  cautious  hereafter.  .  .  . 

PHILADELPHIA,  29th  September,  1795. 

...  I  arrived  here  pretty  late  last  night.  .  .  .  Since  I  wrote 
to  you  I  received  the  account  which  I  expected,  that  of  the  death 
of  my  second  mother.  I  trust,  I  hope  at  least,  the  comfort  she 
must  have  experienced  from  hearing  she  had  not  been  altogether 
disappointed  in  the  hopes  she  had  formed  of  me,  and  in  the  cares 
she  had  bestowed  on  my  youth,  will  in  some  degree  have  made 
amends  for  my  unpardonable  neglect  in  writing  so  seldom  to  her. 
...  I  expect  to  set  off  to-morrow. 

The  dispute  between  Commodore  Nicholson  and  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton, to  which  allusion  is  made  above,  was  a  private  one,  which, 
of  course,  had  its  source  in  politics.  For  a  time  the  commodore 
expected  a  duel,  and  it  may  well  be  imagined  that  to  a  gentleman 
of  his  fighting  temperament  a  duel  was  not  altogether  without 


154  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1795. 

its  charm.  Mr.  Hamilton,  however,  had  too  much  good  sense 
to  seek  this  species  of  distinction.  The  dispute  was  amicably 
settled,  and  probably  no  one  was  better  pleased  at  the  settlement 
than  Mr.  Gallatin,  although  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
quarrel. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  career  as  a  member  of  Congress  now  began, 
and  lasted  till  1801,  when  he  became  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
In  some  respects  it  was  without  a  parallel  in  our  history.  That 
a  young  foreigner,  speaking  with  a  foreign  accent,  laboring 
under  all  the  odium  of  the  western  insurrection,  surrounded  by 
friendly  rivals  like  Madison,  John  Nicholas,  W.  B.  Giles,  John 
Randolph,  and  Edward  Livingston ;  confronted  by  opponents 
like  Fisher  Ames,  Judge  Sewall,  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Roger 
Griswold,  James  A.  Bayard,  R.  G.  Harper,  W.  L.  Smith,  of 
South  Carolina,  Samuel  Dana,  of  Connecticut,  and  even  John 
Marshall, — that  such  a  man  under  such  circumstances  should 
have  at  once  seized  the  leadership  of  his  party,  and  retained  it 
with  firmer  and  firmer  grasp  down  to  the  last  moment  of  his 
service;  that  he  should  have  done  this  by  the  sheer  force  of 
ability  and  character,  without  ostentation  and  without  the  tricks 
of  popularity;  that  he  should  have  had  his  leadership  admitted 
without  a  dispute,  and  should  have  held  it  without  a  contest, 
made  a  curious  combination  of  triumphs.  Many  of  the  great 
parliamentary  leaders  in  America,  John  Randolph,  Henry  Clay, 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  have  maintained  their  supremacy  by  their 
dogmatic  and  overbearing  temper  and  their  powers  of  sarcasm 
or  invective.  Mr.  Gallatin  seldom  indulged  in  personalities. 
His  temper  was  under  almost  perfect  control.  His  power  lay 
in  courage,  honesty  of  purpose,  and  thoroughness  of  study. 
Undoubtedly  his  mind  was  one  of  rare  power,  perhaps  for  this 
especial  purpose  the  most  apt  that  America  has  ever  seen;  a 
mind  for  which  no  principle  was  too  broad  and  no  detail  too 
delicate ;  but  it  was  essentially  a  scientific  and  not  a  political 
mind.  Mr.  Gallatin  always  tended  to  think  with  an  entire  dis- 
regard of  the  emotions;  he  could  only  with  an  effort  refrain 
from  balancing  the  opposing  sides  of  a  political  question.  His 
good  fortune  threw  him  into  public  life  at  a  time  when  both 
parties  believed  that  principles  were  at  stake,  and  when  the 


1795  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  155 

struggle  between  those  who  would  bar  the  progress  of  democracy 
and  those  who  led  that  progress  allowed  little  latitude  for  doubt 
on  either  side  in  regard  to  the  necessity  of  their  acts.  While 
this  condition  of  things  lasted,  and  it  lasted  throughout  Mr. 
Gallatin's  stormy  Congressional  career,  he  was  an  ideal  party 
leader,  uniting  boldness  with  caution,  good  temper  with  earnest- 
ness, exact  modes  of  thought  ivith  laborious  investigation,  to  a 
degree  that  has  no  parallel  in  American  experience.  Perhaps 
the  only  famous  leader  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  who 
could  stand  comparison  with  Mr.  Gallatin  for  the  combina- 
tion of  capacities,  each  carried  to  uniform  excellence,  was  Mr. 
Madison;  and  it  was  precisely  Mr.  Madison  whom  Gallatin 
supplanted. 

On  the  subject  of  his  Congressional  service  Mr.  Gallatin  left 
two  fragmentary  memoranda,  which  may  best  find  place  here : 

"As  both  that  body  [Congress]  and  the  State  Legislature  sat 
in  Philadelphia,  owing  also  to  my  short  attendance  in  the  United 
States  Senate  and  my  defence  of  my  seat,  I  was  as  well  known 
to  the  members  of  Congress  as  their  own  colleagues,  and  at  once 
took  my  stand  in  that  Assembly.  The  first  great  debate  in 
which  we  were  engaged  was  that  on  the  British  treaty ;  and  my 
speech,  or  rather  two  speeches,  on  the  constitutional  powers  of 
the  House,  miserably  reported  and  curtailed  by  B.  F.  Bache 
were,  whether  I  was  right  or  wrong,  universally  considered  as 
the  best  on  either  side.  I  think  that  of  Mr.  Madison  superior 
and  more  comprehensive,  but  for  this  very  reason  (compre- 
hensiveness) less  impressive  than  mine.  Griswold's  reply  was 
thought  the  best;  in  my  opinion  it  was  that  of  Goodrich,  though 
this  was  deficient  in  perspicuity.  Both,  however,  were  second- 
rate.  The  most  brilliant  and  eloquent  speech  was  undoubtedly 
that  of  Mr.  Ames;  but  it  was  delivered  in  reference  to  the 
expediency  of  making  the  appropriations,  and  treated  but  inci- 
dentally of  the  constitutional  question.  I  may  here  say  that 
though  there  were,  during  my  six  years  of  Congressional  service, 
many  clever  men  in  the  Federal  party  in  the  House  (Griswold, 
Bayard,  Harper,  Otis,  Smith  of  South  Carolina,  Dana,  Tracy, 
Hillhoiise,  Sitgreaves,  &c.),  I  met  with  but  two  superior  men, 
Ames,  who  sat  only  during  the  session  of  1795-1796,  and  John 


156  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1795. 

Marshall,  who  sat  only  in  the  session  of  1799-1800,  and  who 
took  an  active  part  in  the  debates  only  two  or  three  times,  but 
always  with  great  effect.  On  our  side  we  were  much  stronger 
in  the  Congress  of  1795-1797.  But  Mr.  Madison  and  Giles 
(an  able  commonplace  debater)  having  withdrawn,  and  Richard 
Brent  become  hypochondriac,  we  were  reduced  during  the  im- 
portant Congress  of  1797-1799  to  Ed.  Livingston,  John  Nicholas, 
and  myself,  whilst  the  Federalists  received  the  accession  of 
Bayard  and  Otis.  John  Marshall  came  in  addition  for  the  Con- 
gress of  1799-1801,  and  we  were  recruited  by  John  Randolph 
and  Joseph  Nicholson." 

"The  ground  which  I  occupied  in  that  body  [Congress]  is 
well  known,  and  I  need  not  dwell  on  the  share  I  took  in  all  the 
important  debates  and  on  the  great  questions  which  during  that 
period  (1795-1801)  agitated  the  public  mind,  in  1796  the  British 
treaty,  in  1798-1800  the  hostilities  with  France  and  the  various 
unnecessary  and  obnoxious  measures  by  which  the  Federal  party 
destroyed  itself.  It  is  certainly  a  subject  of  self-gratulation  that 
I  should  have  been  allowed  to  take  the  lead  with  such  coadjutors 
as  Madison,  Giles,  Livingston,  and  Nicholas,  and  that  when 
deprived  of  the  powerful  assistance  of  the  two  first,  who  had 
both  withdrawn  in  1798,  I  was  able  to  contend  on  equal  term* 
with  the  host  of  talents  collected  in  the  Federal  party, — Griswold, 
Bayard,  Harper,  Goodrich,  Otis,  Smith,  Sitgreaves,  Dana,  and 
even  J.  Marshall.  Yet  I  was  destitute  of  eloquence,  and  had  to 
surmount  the  great  obstacle  of  speaking  in  a  foreign  language, 
with  a  very  bad  pronunciation.  My  advantages  consisted  in 
laborious  investigation,  habits  of  analysis,  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  subjects  under  discussion,  and  more  extensive  general  in- 
formation, due  to  an  excellent  early  education,  to  which  I  think 
I  may  add  quickness  of  apprehension  and  a  sound  judgment. 

"  A  member  of  the  opposition  during  the  whole  period,  it  could 
not  have  been  expected  that  many  important  measures  should 
have  been  successfully  introduced  by  me.  Yet  an  impulse  was 
given  in  some  respects  which  had  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
spirit  and  leading  principles  of  subsequent  Administrations. 
The  principal  questions  in  which  I  was  engaged  related  to  con- 
stitutional construction  or  to  the  finances.  Though  not  quite  so 


1795.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801.  157 

orthodox  on  the  first  subject  as  my  Virginia  friends  (witness 
the  United  States  Bank  and  internal  improvements),  I  was  op- 
posed to  any  usurpation  of  powers  by  the  general  government. 
But  I  was  specially  jealous  of  Executive  encroachments,  and  to 
keep  that  branch  within  the  strict  limits  of  Constitution  and  of 
law,  allowing  no  more  discretion  than  what  appeared  strictly 
necessary,  was  my  constant  effort. 

"  The  financial  department  in  the  House  was  quite  vacant,  so 
far  at  least  as  the  opposition  was  concerned ;  and  having  made 
myself  complete  master  of  the  subject  and  occupied  that  field 
almost  exclusively,  it  is  not  astonishing  that  my  views  should 
have  been  adopted  by  the  Republican  party  and  been  acted  upon 
when  they  came  into  power.  My  first  step  was  to  have  a  stand- 
ing committee  of  ways  and  means  appointed.  That  this  should 
not  have  been  sooner  done  proves  the  existing  bias  in  favor  of 
increasing  as  far  as  possible  the  power  of  the  Executive  branch. 
The  next  thing  was  to  demonstrate  that  the  expenditure  had  till 
then  exceeded  the  income :  the  remedy  proposed  was  economy. 
Economy  means  order  and  skill ;  and  after  having  determined 
the  proper  and  necessary  objects  of  expense,  the  Legislature  can- 
not enforce  true  economy  otherwise  than  by  making  specific  ap- 
propriations. Even  these  must  be  made  with  due  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  since,  if  carried  too  far  by  too  many  subdivisions, 
they  become  injurious,  if  not  impracticable.  This  subject  has 
ever  been  a  bone  of  contention  between  the  legislative  and  ex- 
ecutive branches  in  every  representative  government,  and  it  is  in 
reality  the  only  proper  and  efficient  legislative  check  on  executive 
prodigality. 

"  Respecting  the  objects  of  expenditure,  there  was  not,  apart 
from  that  connected  with  the  French  hostilities,  any  other  subject 
of  division  but  that  of  the  navy.  And  the  true  question  was 
whether  the  creation  of  an  efficient  navy  should  be  postponed  to 
the  payment  of  the  public  debt/7  .  .  . 

During  Mr.  Gallatin's  maiden  session  of  Congress,  the  exciting 
winter  of  1795-96,  when  the  first  of  our  great  party  contests 
took  place,  not  even  a  private  letter  seems  to  have  been  written 
by  him  that  throws  light  on  his  acts  or  thoughts.  His  wife  was 
with  him  in  Philadelphia.  If  he  wrote  confidentially  to  any 


158  LIFE     OF    ALBEET     GAL  LATIN.  1796. 

other  person,  his  letters  are  now  lost.  The  only  material  for  his 
biography  is  in  the  Annals  of  Congress  and  in  his  speeches,  with 
the  replies  they  provoked ;  a  material  long  since  worn  threadbare 
by  biographers  and  historians. 

Of  all  portions  of  our  national  history  none  has  been  more  often 
or  more  carefully  described  and  discussed  than  the  struggle  over 
Mr.  Jay's  treaty.  No  candid  man  can  deny  that  there  was  at 
the  time  ample  room  for  honest  difference  of  opinion  in  regard 
to  the  national  policy.  That  Mr.  Jay's  treaty  was  a  bad  one 
few  persons  even  then  ventured  to  dispute ;  no  one  would  ven- 
ture on  its  merits  to  defend  it  now.  There  has  been  no  moment 
since  1810  when  the  United  States  would  have  hesitated  to  prefer 
war  rather  than  peace  on  such  terms.  No  excuse  in  the  tempo- 
rary advantages  which  the  treaty  gained  can  wholly  palliate  the 
concessions  of  principle  which  it  yielded,  and  no  considerations 
of  a  possible  war  with  England  averted  or  postponed  can  blind 
history  to  the  fact  that  this  blessing  of  peace  was  obtained  by 
the  sacrifice  of  national  consistency  and  by  the  violation  of  neu- 
trality towards  France.  The  treaty  recognized  the  right  of  Great 
Britain  to  capture  French  property  in  American  vessels,  whilst 
British  property  in  the  same  situation  was  protected  from  capture 
by  our  previous  treaty  with  France ;  and,  what  was  yet  worse, 
the  acknowledgment  that  provisions  might  be  treated  as  contra- 
band not  only  contradicted  all  our  principles,  but  subjected  the 
United  States  government  to  the  charge  of  a  mean  connivance 
in  the  British  effort  to  famish  France,  while  securing  America 
from  pecuniary  loss. 

Nevertheless,  for  good  and  solid  reasons,  the  Senate  at  the  time 
approved,  and  President  Washington,  after  long  deliberation, 
signed,  the  treaty.  The  fear  of  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  the 
desire  to  gain  possession  of  the  Western  posts,  and  the  commercial 
interests  involved  in  a  neutral  trade  daily  becoming  more  lucra- 
tive, were  the  chief  motives  to  this  course.  So  far  as  Mr.  Galla- 
tin's  private  opinions  were  concerned,  it  is  probable  that  no  one 
felt  much  more  aversion  to  the  treaty  than  he  did ;  but  before 
he  took  his  seat  in  Congress  the  Senate  had  approved  and  the 
President  had  signed  it;  a  strong  feeling  in  its  favor  existed 
among  his  own  constituents,  always  in  dread  of  Indian  diffi- 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  159 

culties  ;  the  treaty,  in  short,  was  law,  and  the  House  had  only  to 
consider  the  legislation  necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

Bad  as  the  treaty  was,  both  in  its  omissions  and  in  its  admis- 
sions, as  a  matter  of  foreign  relations,  these  defects  were  almost 
trifles  when  compared  with  its  mischievous  results  at  home.  It 
thrust  a  sword  into  the  body  politic.  So  far  as  it  went,  and  it 
went  no  small  distance,  it  tended  to  overturn  the  established 
balance  of  our  neutrality  and  to  throw  the  country  into  the  arms 
of  England.  Nothing  could  have  so  effectually  arrayed  the  two 
great  domestic  parties  in  sharply  defined  opposition  to  each  other, 
and  nothing  could  have  aroused  more  bitterness  of  personal  feel- 
ing. In  recent  times  there  has  been  a  general  disposition  to  ex- 
plain away  and  to  soften  down  the  opinions  and  passions  of  that 
day ;  to  throw  a  veil  over  their  violence  ;  to  imagine  a  possible 
middle  ground,  from  which  the  acts  and  motives  of  all  parties 
will  appear  patriotic  and  wise,  and  their  extravagance  a  mere 
misunderstanding.  Such  treatment  of  history  makes  both  par- 
ties ridiculous.  The  two  brilliant  men  who  led  the  two  great 
divisons  of  national  thought  were  not  mere  declaimers;  they 
never  for  a  moment  misunderstood  each  other;  they  were  in 
deadly  earnest,  and  no  compromise  between  them  ever  was  or 
ever  will  be  possible.  Mr.  Jefferson  meant  that  the  American 
system  should  be  a  democracy,  and  he  would  rather  have  let  the 
world  perish  than  that  this  principle,  which  to  him  represented 
all  that  man  was  worth,  should  fail.  Mr.  Hamilton  considered 
democracy  a  fatal  curse,  and  meant  to  stop  its  progress.  The 
partial  truce  which  the  first  Administration  of  Washington  had 
imposed  on  both  parties,  although  really  closed  by  the  retirement 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  from  the  Cabinet,  was  finally  broken  only  by 
the  arrival  of  Mr.  Jay's  treaty.  From  that  moment  repose  was 
impossible  until  one  party  or  the  other  had  triumphed  beyond 
hope  of  resistance;  and  it  was  easy  to  see  which  of  the  two 
parties  must  triumph  in  the  end. 

One  of  the  immediate  and  most  dangerous  results  of  the  Brit- 
ish treaty  was  to  put  the  new  Constitution  to  a  very  serious  test. 
The  theory  which  divides  our  government  into  departments, 
executive,  legislative,  and  judicial,  and  which  makes  each  depart- 
ment supreme  in  its  own  sphere,  could  not  be  worked  out  with 


160  LIFE     OF     ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1796. 

even  theoretical  perfection ;  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  were 
themselves  obliged  to  admit  exceptions  in  this  arrangement  of 
powers,  and  one  of  the  most  serious  exceptions  related  to  treaties. 
The  Constitution  begins  by  saying,  "All  legislative  powers 
herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives," 
and  proceeds  to  give  Congress  the  express  power  "  to  make  all 
laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  exe- 
cution the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this 
Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof."  But  on  the  other  hand  the  Con- 
stitution also  says  that  the  President  "  shall  have  power,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties," 
and  finally  it  declares  that  "  this  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and 
all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land," 
State  laws  or  constitutions  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Here  was  an  obvious  conflict  of  powers  resulting  from  an 
equally  obvious  divergence  of  theory.  Congress  possessed  all 
legislative  powers.  The  President  and  Senate  possessed  the 
power  to  make  treaties,  which  were,  like  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  Congress,  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  Congress, 
then,  did  not  possess  all  legislative  powers.  The  President  alone, 
with  two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  could  legislate. 

The  British  treaty  contained  provisions  which  could  only 
be  carried  into  execution  by  act  of  Congress ;  it  was,  therefore, 
within  the  power  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  refuse 
legislation  and  thus  practically  break  the  treaty.  The  House 
was  so  evenly  divided  that  no  one  could  foresee  the  result,  when 
Edward  Livingston  began  this  famous  debate  by  moving  to  call 
on  the  President  for  papers,  in  order  that  the  House  might  delib- 
erate with  official  knowledge  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
treaty  was  negotiated. 

The  Federalists  met  this  motion  by  asserting  that  under  the 
Constitution  the  House  had  no  right  to  the  papers,  no  right  to 
deliberate  on  the  merits  of  the  treaty,  no  right  to  refuse  legisla- 
tion. In  Mr.  Griswold's  words,  "  The  House  of  Representatives 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  161 

have  nothing  to  do  with  the  treaty  but  provide  for  its  execu- 
tion." Untenable  as  this  ground  obviously  was,  and  one  which 
no  respectable  legislative  body  could  possibly  accept,  it  was  boldly 
taken  by  the  Federalists,  who  plunged  into  the  contest  with  their 
characteristic  audacity  and  indomitable  courage,  traits  that  compel 
respect  even  for  their  blunders. 

The  debate  began  on  March  7,  1796,  and  on  the  10th  Mr. 
Gallatin  spoke,  attacking  the  constitutional  doctrine  of  the  Feder- 
alists and  laying  down  his  own.  He  claimed  for  the  House,  not 
a  power  to  make  treaties,  but  a  check  upon  the  treaty-making 
power  when  clashing  with  the  special  powers  expressly  vested  in 
Congress  by  the  Constitution ;  he  showed  the  existence  of  this 
check  in  the  British  constitution,  and  he  showed  its  necessity  in 
our  own,  for,  "  if  the  treaty-making  power  is  not  limited  by  ex- 
isting laws,  or  if  it  repeals  the  laws  that  clash  with  it,  or  if  the 
Legislature  is  obliged  to  repeal  the  laws  so  clashing,  then  the 
legislative  power  in  fact  resides  in  the  President  and  Senate,  and 
they  can,  by  employing  an  Indian  tribe,  pass  any  law  under  the 
color  of  treaty." 

The  argument  was  irresistible ;  it  was  never  answered ;  and 
indeed  the  mere  statement  is  enough  to  leave  only  a  sense  of  sur- 
prise that  the  Federalists  should  have  hazarded  themselves  on  such 
preposterous  ground.  Some  seventy  years  later,  when  the  pur- 
chase of  Alaska  brought  this  subject  again  before  the  House  on 
the  question  of  appropriating  the  purchase-money  stipulated  by 
the  treaty,  the  Administration  abandoned  the  old  Federalist 
position ;  the  right  of  the  House  to  call  for  papers,  to  deliberate 
on  the  merits  of  the  treaty,  even  to  refuse  appropriations  if 
the  treaty  was  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  or  with  the 
established  policy  of  the  country,  was  fully  conceded.  The  Ad- 
ministration only  made  the  reasonable  claim  that  if,  upon  just 
consideration,  a  treaty  was  found  to  be  clearly  within  the  con- 
stitutional powers  of  the  government,  and  consistent  with  the 
national  policy,  then  it  was  the  duty  of  each  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  government  to  shape  its  action  accordingly.1  This  claim 


1  See  the  Speech  of  N.  P.  Banks,  of  June  30, 1868,  Cong.  Globe,  vol.  Ixxv., 
Appendix,  p.  385. 

11 


162  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1796, 

was  recognized ;  the  House  voted  the  money,  and  the  controversy 
may  be  considered  at  an  end.  In  1796,  on  the  contrary,  Mr. 
Griswold,  whose  reply  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  argument  was  considered 
the  most  effective,  and  who  never  shrank  from  a  logical  conclu- 
sion however  extreme,  admitted  and  asserted  that  the  legislative 
power  did  reside  in  the  President  and  Senate  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  House,  and  added,  "  Allowing  this  to  be  the  case,  what  fol- 
lows ? — that  the  people  have  clothed  the  President  and  Senate 
with  a  very  important  power." 

On  this  theme  the  debate  was  continued  for  several  weeks ; 
but  the  Federalists  were  in  a  false  position,  and  were  conse- 
quently overmatched  in  argument.  Madison,  W.  C.  Nicholas, 
Edward  Livingston,  and  many  other  members  of  the  opposi- 
tion, in  speeches  of  marked  ability,  supported  the  claim  of  their 
House.  The  speakers  on  the  other  side  were  obliged  to  take 
the  attitude  of  betraying  the  rights  of  their  own  body  in  order 
to  exaggerate  the  powers  of  the  Executive,  and  as  this  practice 
was  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  aristocratic  theory  of  gov- 
ernment, they  subjected  themselves  to  the  suspicion  at  least  of 
acting  with  ulterior  motives. 

On  the  23d  March,  Mr.  Gallatin  closed  the  debate  for  his 
side  of  the  House  by  a  second  speech,  in  which  he  took  more 
advanced  ground.  He  had  before  devoted  his  strength  to  over- 
throwing the  constitutional  theory  of  his  opponents;  he  now 
undertook  the  far  more  difficult  task  of  establishing  one  of  his 
own.  The  Federalist  side  of  the  House  was  not  the  temperate 
side  in  this  debate,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  had  more  than  one  personal 
attack  to  complain  of,  but  he  paid  no  attention  to  personalities, 
and  went  on  to  complete  his  argument.  Inasmuch  as  the  Fed- 
eralists characterized  their  opponents  on  this  question  as  disor- 
ganizers,  disunionists,  and  traitors,  and  even  to  this  day  numbers 
of  intelligent  persons  still  labor  under  strong  prejudice  against 
the  Eepublican  opposition  to  Washington's  Administration,  a  few 
sentences  from  Mr.  Gallatin's  second  speech  shall  be  inserted  here 
to  show  precisely  how  far  he  and  his  party  did  in  fact  go : 

"  The  power  claimed  by  the  House  is  not  that  of  negotiating 
and  proposing  treaties ;  it  is  not  an  active  and  operative  power 
of  making  and  repealing  treaties;  it  is  not  a  power  which  absorbs 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  163 

and  destroys  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  and  Senate 
to  make  treaties ;  it  is  only  a  negative,  a  restraining  power  on 
those  subjects  over  which  Congress  has  the  right  to  legislate. 
On  the  contrary,  the  power  claimed  for  the  President  and  Senate 
is  that,  under  color  of  making  treaties,  of  proposing  and  origi- 
nating laws;  it  is  an  active  and  operative  power  of  making  laws 
and  of  repealing  laws ;  it  is  a  power  which  supersedes  and  anni- 
hilates the  constitutional  powers  vested  in  Congress. 

"  If  it  is  asked,  in  what  situation  a  treaty  is  which  has  been 
made  by  the  President  and  Senate,  but  which  contains  stipula- 
tions on  legislative  objects,  until  Congress  has  carried  them  into 
effect?  whether  it  is  the  law  of  the  land  and  binding  upon  the 
two  nations?  I  might  answer  that  such  a  treaty  is  precisely 
in  the  same  situation  with  a  similar  one  concluded  by  Great 
Britain  before  Parliament  has  carried  it  into  effect. 

"  But  if  a  direct  answer  is  insisted  on,  I  would  say  that  it  is 
in  some  respects  an  inchoate  act.  It  is  the  law  of  the  land  and 
binding  upon  the  American  nation  in  all  its  parts,  except  so  far 
as  relates  to  those  stipulations.  Its  final  fate,  in  case  of  refusal 
on  the  part  of  Congress  to  carry  those  stipulations  into  effect, 
would  depend  on  the  will  of  the  other  nation." 

The  Federalists  had  in  this  debate  failed  to  hold  well  to- 
gether ;  the  ground  assumed  by  Mr.  Griswold  was  too  extreme 
for  some  even  among  the  leaders,  and  concessions  were  made  on 
that  side  which  fatally  shook  their  position ;  but  among  the  Ee- 
publicans  there  was  concurrence  almost,  if  not  quite,  universal 
in  the  statements  of  the  argument  by  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr. 
Gallatin,  and  this  closing  authoritative  position  of  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  on  the  same  day  adopted  by  the  House  on  a  vote  of  62  to 
37,  only  five  members  not  voting. 

The  Administration  might  perhaps  have  contented  itself  with 
refusing  the  papers  called  for  by  the  House,  and  left  the  matter 
as  it  stood,  seeing  that  the  resolution  calling  for  the  papers  said 
not  a  word  about  the  treaty-making  power,  and  the  journals  of 
the  House  contained  no  allusion  to  the  subject ;  or  the  President 
might  have  contented  himself  with  simply  asserting  his  own 
powers  and  the  rights  of  his  own  Department ;  but,  as  has 
been  already  seen,  there  was  at  this  time  an  absence  of  fixed 


164  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1796 

precedent  which  occasionally  led  executive  officers  to  take  liber- 
ties with  the  Legislature  such  as  would  never  afterwards  have 
been  tolerated.  The  President  sent  a  message  to  the  House 
which  was  far  from  calculated  to  soothe  angry  feeling.  Two 
passages  were  especially  invidious.  In  one  the  President  ad- 
verted to  the  debates  held  in  the  House.  In  the  other  he  assumed 
a  position  in  curious  contrast  to  his-  generally  cautious  tone: 
"  Having  been  a  member  of  the  general  convention,  and  know- 
ing the  principles  on  which  the  Constitution  was  formed,  I  have, 
&C.,  &c."  For  the  President  of  the  United  States  on  such  an 
occasion  to  appeal  to  hi&  personal  knowledge  of  the  intentions  of 
a  body  of  men  who  gave  him  no  authority  for  that  purpose,  and 
whose  intentions  were  not  a  matter  of  paramount  importance, 
seeing  that  by  universal  consent  it  was  not  their  intentions  which 
interpreted  the  Constitution,  but  the  intentions  of  the  people 
who  adopted  it ;  and  for  him  to  use  this  language  to  a  body  of 
which  Mr.  Madison  was  leader,  and  which  had  adopted  Mr. 
Madison's  views,  was  a  step  not  likely  to  diminish  the  perils  of 
the  situation.  Had  the  President  been  any  other  than  Wash- 
ington, or  perhaps  had  the  House  been  led  by  another  than 
Madison,,  the  opportunity  for  a  ferocious  retort  would  probably 
have  been  irresistible.  As  it  was,  the  House  acted  with  great 
forbearance ;  it  left  unnoticed  this  very  vulnerable  part  of  the 
message,  and  in  reply  to  the  implication  that  the  House  claimed 
to  make  its  assent  "  necessary  to.  the  validity  of  a.  treaty,"  it  con- 
tented itself  with  passing  a  resolution  denning  its  own  precise 
claim.  Oft  this  resolution  Mr.  Madison  spoke  at  some  length  and 
with  perfect  temper  in  reply  to  what  could  only  be  considered  as 
the  personal  challenge  contained  in  the  message,  while  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  did  not  speak  at  all.  The  resolutions  were  adopted  by  57  to 
35,  and  the  House  then  turned  to  the  merits  of  the  treaty. 

On  this  subject  Mr.  Gallatin  spoke  at  considerable  length  on 
the  26th  April,,  a  few  days  before  the  close  of  the  debate.  The 
situation  was  extremely  difficult.  In  the  country  at  large  opinion 
was  as  closely  divided  as  it  was  in  the  House  itself.  Even  at  the 
present  moment  it  is  not  easy  to  decide  in  favor  of  either  party. 
Nothing  but  the  personal  authority  of  General  Washington  carried 
the  hesitating  assent  of  great  masses  of  Federalists.  Nothing  but 


1796.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801. 

fear  of  war  made  approval  even  remotely  possible.  Whether 
the  danger  of  war  was  really  so  great  as  the  friends  of  the  treaty 
averred  may  be  doubted.  No  Federalist  Administration  would 
have  made  war  on  England,  for  it  was  a  cardinal  principle  with 
the  Hamiltonian  wing  of  the  party  that  only  through  peace  with 
England  could  their  ascendency  be  preserved,  while  war  with 
England  avowedly  meant  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  by  their 
own  act.1  The  Republicans  wanted  no  war  with  England,  as 
they  afterwards  proved  by  enduring  insults  that  would  in  our 
day  rouse  to  madness  every  intelligent  human  being  within  the 
national  borders.  Nevertheless  war  appeared  or  was  represented 
as  inevitable  in  1796  ;  the  eloquent  speech  of  Fisher  Ames  con- 
tained no  other  argument  of  any  weight ;  it  was  abject  fear  to 
which  he  appealed  :  "  You  are  a  father :  the  blood  of  your  sons 
shall  fatten  your  corn-field.  You  are  a  mother :  the  war-whoop 
shall  wake  the  sleep  of  the  cradle." 

It  was  the  truth  of  this  reproach  on  the  weakness  of  the  argu- 
ment for  the  treaty  that  made  the  sting  of  Mr,  Gallatin's  closing 
remarks : 

"  I  cannot  help  considering  die  cry  of  war,  the  threats  of  a 
dissolution  of  government,  and  the  present  alarm,  as  designed 
for  the  same  purpose,  that  of  making  an  impression  on  the  fears 
of  this  House.  It  was  through  the  fear  of  being  involved  in  a 
war  that  the  negotiation  with  Great  Britain  originated;  under 
the  impression  of  fear  the  treaty  has  been  negotiated  and  signed ; 
a  fear  of  the  same  danger,  that  of  war,  promoted  its  ratification: 
and  now  every  imaginary  mischief  which  can  alarm  our  fears  k 
conjured  up,  in  order  to  deprive  us  of  that  discretion  which  this 
House  thinks  it  has  a  right  to  exercise,  and  in  order  to  force  us  to 
carry  the  treaty  into  effect." 

Nevertheless  Mr.  Gallatin  carefully  abstained  from  advocating 
a  refusal  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect.  With  his  usual  caution 
he  held  his  party  back  from  any  violent  step ;  he  even  went  so 
far  as  to  avow  his  wish  that  the  treaty  might  not  now  be  defeated: 

"  The  further  detention  of  our  posts,  the  national  stain  that 
would  result  from  receiving  no  reparation  for  the  spoliations  on 

1  See,  among  other  expressions  to  this  effect,  Lodge's  Cabot,  pp.  342,  345. 


166  LITE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1796, 

our  trade,  and  the  uncertainty  of  a  final  adjustment  of  our  dif- 
ferences with  Great  Britain,  are  the  three  evils  which  strike  me 
as  resulting  from  a  rejection  of  the  treaty ;  and  when  to  these 
considerations  I  add  that  of  the  present  situation  of  the  country, 
of  the  agitation  of  the  public  mind,  and  of  the  advantages  that 
would  arise  from  a  union  of  sentiments ;  however  inj  urious  and 
unequal  I  conceive  the  treaty  to  be,  however  repugnant  it  may 
be  to  my  feelings  and,  perhaps,  to  my  prejudices,  I  feel  induced 
to  vote  for  it,  and  will  not  give  my  assent  to  any  proposition 
which  would  imply  its  rejection." 

He  also  carefully  avoided  taking  the  ground  which  was  un- 
doubtedly first  in  his  anxieties,  that  of  the  bearing  which  the 
treaty  would  have  on  our  relations  with  France.  This  was  a 
subject  which  his  semi-Gallican  origin  debarred  him  from  dwell- 
ing upon.  The  position  he  took  was  a  new  one,  and  for  his 
party  perfectly  safe  and  proper ;  it  was  that,  in  view  of  the  con- 
duct of  Great  Britain  since  the  treaty  was  signed,  her  impress- 
ment of  our  seamen,  her  uninterrupted  spoliations  on  our  trade, 
especially  in  the  seizure  of  provision  vessels,  "a  proceeding 
which  they  might  perhaps  justify  by  one  of  the  articles  of  the 
treaty,"  a  postponement  of  action  was  advisable  until  assurances 
were  received  from  Great  Britain  that  she  meant  in  future  to 
conduct  herself  as  a  friend. 

This  was  the  ground  on  which  the  party  recorded  their  vote 
against  the  resolution  declaring  it  expedient  to  make  appro- 
priations for  carrying  the  treaty  into  effect.  In  committee  the 
division  was  49  to  49, — Muhlenberg,  the  chairman,  throwing 
his  vote  in  favor  of  the  resolution,  and  thus  carrying  it  to  the 
House.  There  the  appropriation  was  voted  by  51  to  48. 

Perhaps  the  only  individual  in  any  branch  of  the  government 
who  was  immediately  and  greatly  benefited  by  the  British  treaty 
was  Mr.  Gallatin ;  he  had  by  common  consent  distinguished 
himself  in  debate  and  in  counsel ;  bolder  and  more  active  than 
Mr.  Madison,  he  was  followed  by  his  party  with  instinctive  con- 
fidence ;  henceforth  his  leadership  was  recognized  by  the  entire 
country. 

Absorbing  as  the  treaty  debate  was,  it  did  not  prevent  other 
and  very  weighty  legislation.  One  Act,  adopted  in  the  midst 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  167 

of  the  excitement  of  the  treaty,  was  peculiarly  important,  and, 
although  the  idea  itself  was  not  new,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  the  firsi 
to  embody  it  in  law,  so  far  as  any  single  individual  can  lay 
claim  to  that  distinction.  This  Act  created  the  land-system 
of  the  United  States  government;  it  applied  only  to  lands 
north-west  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  which  the  Indian  titles  had 
been  extinguished,  and  it  provided  for  laying  these  out  in 
townships,  six  miles  square,  and  for  selling  the  land  in  sections, 
under  certain  reservations.  This  land-system,  always  a  subject 
of  special  interest  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  owing  its  existence  pri- 
marily to  his  efforts  while  a  legislator,  took  afterwards  an  im- 
mense development  in  his  hands  while  he  was  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and,  had  he  been  allowed  to  carry  out  his  schemes, 
would  probably  have  been  made  by  him  the  foundation  of  a 
magnificent  system  of  internal  improvement.  Circumstances 
prevented  him  from  realizing  his  plan;  only  the  land-system 
itself  and  the  Cumberland  Road  remained  to  testify  the  breadth 
and  accuracy  of  his  views;  but  even  these  were  achievements  of 
the  highest  national  importance. 

Deeply  as  these  two  subjects  interested  him,  his  permanent  and 
peculiar  task  was  a  different  one.  To  Mr.  Gallatin  finance  was 
an  instinct.  He  knew  well,  as  Mr.  Hamilton  had  equally  clearly 
understood  before  him,  that  the  heart  of  the  government  was  the 
Treasury ;  like  many  another  man  of  high  financial  reputation, 
he  had  little  talent  for  money-making,  and  never  was,  or  cared 
to  be,  rich ;  but  he  had  one  great  advantage  over  most  Americans 
of  his  time,  even  over  Mr.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Jefferson ;  he  was 
an  economist  as  well  as  a  statesman ;  he  was  exact  not  merely  in 
the  details  but  in  the  morality  of  affairs;  he  held  debt  in  horror; 
punctilious  exactness  in  avoiding  debt  was  his  final  axiom  in 
finance ;  the  discharge  of  debt  was  his  first  principle  in  states- 
manship ;  searching  and  rigid  economy  was  his  invariable  demand 
whether  in  or  out  of  office,  and  he  made  this  demand  imperative 
upon  himself  as  upon  others. 

Mr.  Hamilton,  to  whom  the  organization  of  the  financial  system 
was  due,  and  who  left  public  life  just  as  Gallatin  began  his  Con- 
gressional career,  had  belonged  to  a  different  school  and  had  acted 
on  different  principles.  Adhering  more  or  less  closely  to  the 


168  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1796 

English  financial  and  economical  theories  then  in  vogue,  he  had 
intentionally  constructed  a  somewhat  elaborate  fabric,  of  which 
a  considerable  national  debt  was  the  foundation.  Had  Mr. 
Hamilton  foreseen  in  1790  the  course  public  affairs  would  take 
during  the  next  ten  years,  he  would  perhaps  have  modified  his 
plan  and  would  have  guarded  more  carefully  against  overloading 
the  Treasury;  but  at  that  moment  it  was  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  what  the  country  wanted  was  centralization,  and 
that  a  national  debt  was  one  means  of  consolidating  divergent 
local  interests.  Mr.  Hamilton,  therefore,  accepted  as  much  debt 
as  he  thought  the  country  could  reasonably  bear,  and  allowed  the 
rest  to  be  expunged.  In  forming  this  debt  he  had  at  least  in 
one  respect  permitted  an  unnecessary  and  very  mischievous  addi- 
tion to  be  made  to  the  acknowledged  and  existing  national  bur- 
den. In  order  to  settle  the  accounts  between  the  States,  he  had 
permitted  Congress — perhaps  forced  Congress — to  assume  a  large 
proportion  of  the  State  debts.  The  balance  to  be  adjusted  by 
payment  of  the  debtor  to  the  creditor  States  was  ultimately  as- 
certained to  be  a  little  more  than  $8,000,000.  To  settle  this 
account  as  nearly  as  it  was  settled  in  fact,  required  an  assump- 
tion of  State  debts  to  the  amount  of  $11,609,000;  but,  instead 
of  waiting  for  a  settlement  of  accounts,  Congress  had,  in  1790, 
voted  to  assume  a  certain  amount  of  State  debts  at  once  and  to 
charge  each  State  in  the  ultimate  settlement  with  the  amount 
assumed  on  her  account.  A  sum  of  over  $18,000,000  was  thus 
funded,  and  so  much  debt  transferred  from  the  States  to  the 
national  government.  In  addition  to  this  sum  a  further  amount 
of  about  $3,500,000  .was  funded  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the 
balances  in  favor  of  the  creditor  States.  Altogether,  including 
back  interest  from  1790  to  1795,  a  debt  of  $22,500,000  was 
imposed  on  the  new  government,  where  half  that  sum  would 
have  answered  the  purpose,  and  of  this  ab'out  $2,000,000  was 
actually  new  debt,  created  for  the  occasion. 

The  entire  amount  of  the  national  debt  when  fairly  funded 
was  about  $78,000,000.  Had  no  political  complications  in  its 
foreign  relations  embarrassed  the  government,  this  burden  might 
have  been  easily  carried  in  spite  of  Indian  wars  and  even  in  spite 
of  the  whiskey  rebellion,  though  these  troubles  steadily  tended 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801. 

to  increase  the  sum.  The  annual  charge  was  in  1796  nearly 
$4,000,000,  but  after  the  year  1800  an  additional  charge  of 
§1,100,000  on  deferred  stock  was  to  be  provided  for  by  taxation, 
and  this  future  addition  to  the  annual  charge  hung  over  the  gov- 
ernment during  all  these  years  as  a  perpetual  anxiety.  The 
population  of  the  country  in  1791  was  not  quite  4,000,000  souls, 
of  whom  700,000  were  slaves.  The  expenditures,  including  the 
charge  on  the  debt,  amounted  in  1796  to  about  $7,000,000  a 
year,  and  the  receipts  nearly  balanced  the  expenditures.  Con- 
sidering the  poverty  of  the  country,  taxation  was  high ;  so  high 
as  to  make  any  increase  dangerous.  Thus  the  new  government 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  hazard  experiments,  and  needed  five  or 
ten  years  of  careful  management  in  order  to  give  the  country 
time  for  expansion. 

In  the  middle  of  this  state  of  affairs,  while  the  Treasury  was 
wrestling  with  the  problems  of  Indian  wars  and  domestic  revolt, 
came  the  ominous  signs  of  foreign  aggression.  War  was  thought 
to  be  imminent,  either  with  France  or  England,  from  1795  to 
1800,  and  the  government  was  in  great  straits  to  provide  for  it. 
The  time  now  came  when  the  Federalists  would  probably  have 
been  delighted  to  recover  the  ten  millions  which  had  been  un- 
necessarily assumed,  and  the  theory  of  a  national  debt  must  have 
taken  a  different  aspect  in  their  eyes.  Mr.  Hamilton  had  not 
calculated  on  this  emergency ;  his  system  had  rested  on  the 
assumption  that  the  old  situation  was  to  be  permanent.  The 
question  was  forced  upon  the  country  whether  it  should  increase 
its  debt  or  neglect  its  defences. 

Here  was  the  point  where  the  theories  of  Mr.  Hamilton  and 
of  Mr.  Gallatin  sharply  diverged.  The  Federalists  in  a  body 
demanded  an  army  and  navy,  with  an  indefinite  increase  of 
debt.  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  party  demanded  that  both  army 
and  navy  should  be 'postponed  until  they  could  be  created  with- 
out increase  of  debt.  The  question  as  a  matter  of  statesmanship 
was  extremely  difficult.  In  a  country  like  America  any  really 
efficient  defence,  either  by  land  or  sea,  was  out  of  the  question 
except  at  an  appalling  cost,  yet  to  be  quite  defenceless  was  to 
tempt  aggression.  Deeper  feelings,  too,  were  involved  in  the 
dispute.  An  army  and  a  navy  might  be  used  for  domestic  as 


170  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1796 

well  as  foreign  purposes ;  to  use  the  words  of  Fisher  Ames  in 
private  consultation  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1800, 
when  the  situation  was  most  critical :  "  a  few  thousand,  or  even 
a  few  hundred,  regular  troops,  well  officered,  would  give  the 
first  advantages  to  government  in  every  contest;"1  and  this  idea 
was  always  foremost  in  the  minds  of  the  extreme  Federalists  as 
it  was  among  the  extreme  Republicans.  To  crush  democracy  by 
force  was  the  ultimate  resource  of  Hamilton.  To  crush  that 
force  was  the  determined  intention  of  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  policy  was  early,  openly,  and  vigorously  avowed 
and  persistently  maintained.  In  this  session  of  1795-96,  when 
appropriations  for  finishing  three  frigates  were  demanded,  he 
said  in  a  few  words  what  he  continued  to  say  to  the  end  of  his 
service:  "I  am  sensible  that  an  opinion  of  our  strength  will 
operate  to  a  certain  degree  on  other  nations ;  but  I  think  a  real 
addition  of  strength  will  go  farther  in  defending  us  than  mere 
opinion.  If  the  sums  to  be  expended  to  build  and  maintain 
the  frigates  were  applied  to  paying  a  part  of  our  national  debt, 
the  payment  would  make  us  more  respectable  in  the  eyes  of 
foreign  nations  than  all  the  frigates  we  can  build.  To  spend 
money  unnecessarily  at  present  will  diminish  our  future  re- 
sources, and  instead  of  enabling  us  will  perhaps  render  it  more 
difficult  for  us  to  build  a  navy  some  years  hence."  "  Perhaps  I 
may  be  asked  if  we  are  then  to  be  left  without  protection.  I 
think  there  are  means  of  protection  which  arise  from  our  pecu- 
liar situation,  and  that  we  ought  not  to  borrow  institutions  from 
other  nations,  for  which  we  are  not  fit.  If  our  commerce  has 
increased,  notwithstanding  its  want  of  protection ;  if  we  have 
a  greater  number  of  seamen  than  any  other  nation  except 
England,  this,  I  think,  points  out  the  way  in  which  commerce 
ought  to  be  protected.  The  fact  is,  that  our  only  mode  of  war- 
fare against  European  nations  at  sea  is  by  putting  our  seamen  on 
board  privateers  and  covering  the  sea  with  them ;  these  would 
annoy  their  trade  and  distress  them  more  than  any  other  mode 
of  defence  we  can  adopt."2 


1  Gibbs's  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  ii.  p.  320. 

2  Annals  of  Congress,  February  10,  1797. 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  171 

Yet  government  has  to  deal  with  beings  ruled  not  only  by 
reason  but  by  feeling,  and  its  success  depends  on  the  degree  to 
which  it  can  satisfy  or  at  least  compromise  between  the  double 
standard  of  criticism.  Mr.  Gallatin  habitually  made  too  little 
allowance  for  the  force  and  complexity  of  human  passions  and 
instincts.  Self-contained  and  self-reliant  himself,  and,  like  most 
close  reasoners,  distrustful  of  everything  that  had  a  mere  feeling 
for  its  justification,  he  held  government  down  to  an  exact  ob- 
servance of  rules  that  made  no  allowance  for  national  pride. 
The  three  frigates  whose  construction  he  so  pertinaciously  re- 
sisted were  the  Constitution,  the  Constellation,  and  the  United 
States.  The  time  came,  after  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  party  had 
for  nearly  twelve  years  carried  out  their  own  theories  with 
almost  absolute  power,  when  the  American  people,  bankrupt 
and  disgraced  on  land,  turned  with  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm  to- 
wards the  three  flags  which  these  frigates  were  carrying  on  the 
ocean,  and,  with  little  regard  to  party  diiferences,  would  have 
seen  the  national  debt  and  no  small  part  of  the  national  life  ex- 
punged rather  than  have  parted  with  the  glories  of  these  ships ; 
when  the  broadsides  of  the  Constitution  and  United  States,  to 
use  the  words  of  George  Canning  in  the  British  Parliament, 
"  produced  a  sensation  in  England  scarcely  to  be  equalled  by 
the  most  violent  convulsion  of  nature ;"  and  when  Mr.  Gallatin 
himself,  exhausting  every  resource  of  diplomacy  in  half  the 
courts  of  Europe,  found  that  his  country  had  no  national  dignity 
abroad  except  what  these  frigates  had  conquered. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  and  with  every  motive  to  recognize 
in  the  fullest  extent  the  honors  won  by  the  American  navy,  the 
cool  and  candid  decision  of  history  should  be  that  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  essentially  in  the  right.  A  few  years  of  care  and  economy 
were  alone  necessary  in  order  to  secure  the  certainty  of  national 
power,  and  that  power  would  be  so  safe  in  its  isolation  as  to  be 
able  to  dispense  with  great  armies  and  navies.  The  real  injury 
suifered  by  Great  Britain  in  the  war  of  1812  was  not  in  the  loss 
of  half  a  dozen  vessels  of  war  out  of  her  eight  hundred  in  com- 
mission, but  in  the  ravages  of  our  privateers  on  her  commercial 
marine.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  United  States  have  continued 
to  act  on  Mr.  Gallatin's  theory ;  government  has  never  pre- 


172  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1796. 

tended  to  protect  the  national  commerce  by  a  powerful  navy ; 
no  navy,  not  even  that  of  Great  Britain,  could  protect  it  in  case 
of  war.  That  commerce  has  continued  to  flourish  without  such 
protection.  Every  one  concedes  that  it  would  be  the  wildest 
folly  even  now,  with  forty  millions  of  people  and  a  continent  to 
protect,  for  America  to  establish  a  proportionate  navy.  Every 
smatterer  in  finance  knows  that,  inefficient  as  the  existing  navy 
is,  hundreds  of  millions  have  been  uselessly  expended  upon  it. 
There  could  be  no  more  instructive  thesis  proposed  to  future 
Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  than  to  ask  themselves  on  entering 
into  office,  "  What  would  Mr.  Gallatin  wish  to  do  with  the  navy 
were  he  now  in  my  place  ?" 

But  opposition  to  a  navy  was  only  a  detail  in  Mr.  Gallatin's 
theory  of  American  finance,  and  his  plans  extended  over  a  far 
wider  range  than  could  be  comprehended  within  the  limits  of 
one  or  many  speeches.  The  debate  on  the  British  treaty  had,  no 
doubt,  won  him  a  large  share  of  attention,  but  the  essentials  of 
power  in  a  deliberative  body  are  only  to  be  secured  by  labor  and 
activity  and  by  mastery  of  the  business  in  hand.  Mr.  Gallatin 
knew  perfectly  well  what  was  to  be  done,  and  lost  no  time  in 
acting.  Before  the  House  had  been  ten  days  in  session,  on  the 
17th  December,  1795,  he  brought  forward  a  resolution  for  the 
appointment  of  "  a  committee  to  superintend  the  general  opera- 
tions of  finance.  No  subject,"  said  he,  "  more  requires  a  system, 
and  great  advantages  will  be  derived  from  it."  This  is  the 
origin  of  the  standing  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  the 
want  of  which  hitherto  he  ascribed,  it  seems,  to  Mr.  Hamilton's 
jealousy  of  legislative  supervision.  On  the  21st  December  the 
resolution  was  adopted  and  a  committee  of  fourteen  appointed, 
Mr.  William  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  being  chairman,  sup- 
ported by  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Madison,  Gallatin,  and  other 
important  members  of  the  House. 

The  British  treaty  consumed  most  of  this  session,  and  until 
that  question  was  settled  the  regular  business  was  much  neg- 
lected ;  but  Mr.  Gallatin  did  not  wait  till  then  in  order  to  be- 
gin his  attack.  As  early  as  April  12,  1796,  a  somewhat  warm 
debate  arose  in  the  House  on  the  subject  of  the  debt,  and  he 
undertook,  with  an  elaborate  comparison  of  receipts  and  expend- 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  173 

itures,  to  analyze  the  financial  situation  and  to  show  that  the 
revenue  was  steadily  running  behindhand.  The  true  situation 
of  the  government  was  a  point  not  altogether  easy  to  ascertain. 
One  of  several  English  ideas  adopted  by  Mr.  Hamilton  from 
Mr.  Pitt  was  a  sinking  fund  apparatus.  Even  at  that  time  of 
Mr.  Pitt's  supreme  authority  it  can  hardly  be  conceived  that 
any  one  really  believed  a  sinking  fund  to  be  effective  so  long  as 
the  government's  expenditure  exceeded  its  income ;  it  was,  how- 
ever, certainly  the  fashion  to  affect  a  belief  in  its  efficacy  at  all 
times,  and  although,  if  Mr.  Pitt  and  Mr.  Hamilton  had  been 
pressed  on  the  subject,  they  might  perhaps  have  agreed  that  a 
sinking  fund  was  always  expensive  and  never  efficient  except 
when  there  was  a  surplus,  they  would  in  the  end  have  fallen 
back  on  the  theory  that  it  inspired  confidence  in  ultimate  pay- 
ment of  the  debt.  Their  opponents  would  not  unnaturally 
consider  it  to  be  a  mere  fraud  designed  to  cover  and  conceal  the 
true  situation. 

Apart,  however,  from  every  question  of  the  operation  of  the 
sinking  fund,  there  were  intrinsic  difficulties  in  ascertaining  the 
facts.  The  question  was,  as  in  such  cases  it  is  apt  to  be,  in  a 
great  degree  one  of  accounts.  The  immediate  matter  in  dispute 
was  a  sum  of  $3,800,000  advanced  by  the  bank  in  anticipation 
of  revenue.  Mr.  Sedgwick  and  the  Administration  wished  to 
fund  it,  and  made  considerable  effort  to  prove  that  the  debt  would 
not  only  be  unaffected  thereby,  but  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
debt  had  been  diminished.  Mr.  Gallatin  opposed  the  funding, 
and  insisted  that  provision  should  be  made  for  its  payment,  and 
he  undertook  to  prove  by  a  comparison  of  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures that  the  debt  had  been  increased  $2,800,000  down  to  the 
1st  January,  1796.  It  was  felt  to  be  a  crucial  point,  and  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  not  allowed  to  go  unanswered.  On  the  last  day  of 
the  session  Mr.  William  Smith  replied  to  him,  elaborately  prov- 
ing that  so  far  from  there  being  a  total  increase  of  $5,000,000 
in  the  debt,  as  he  had  undertaken  to  show,  there  was  an  actual 
excess  of  over  $2,000,000  in  favor  of  the  government.  To  this 
Mr.  Gallatin  made  an  immediate  reply,  Mr.  Smith  rejoined,  and 
the  session  ended. 

Of  course  each  party  adhered  to  its  own  view,  which  was  a 


174  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1796. 

matter  of  very  little  consequence  so  long  as  Mr.  Gallatin  gained 
his  point  of  fixing  public  attention  upon  the  subject;  his  aim 
was  to  educate  his  own  party  and  to  plant  his  own  principles 
deep  in  popular  convictions.  After  the  adjournment  he  wrote  a 
book  for  this  purpose  called  "  A  Sketch  of  the  Finances  of  the 
United  States/7  which  was  in  fact  a  text-book,  and  answered  its 
purpose  admirably.  In  two  hundred  pages,  with  a  few  tabular 
statements  appended,  he  discussed  the  revenues,  expenditures, 
and  debt  of  the  United  States  with  his  usual  clearness,  and, 
while  avoiding  all  apparent  party  feeling,  he  freely  criticised  the 
financial  measures  of  the  government.  The  duty  of  preventing 
increase  of  debt,  of  discharging  the  principal  as  soon  as  possible, 
was  the  foundation  of  the  work ;  criticisms  of  the  cases  in  which 
the  burden  had  been  unnecessarily  increased  were  interwoven  in 
the  statement,  which  concluded  with  suggestions  of  additional 
sources  of  revenue.1 

Thus  already  in  the  first  year  of  his  Congressional  service  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  sketched  out  and  begun  to  infuse  into  his  party 
those  financial  schemes  and  theories  that  were  ultimately  to 
be  realized  when  they  came  into  power.  That  these  ideas,  as 
forming  a  single  complete  body  of  finance,  were  essentially  new, 
has  already  been  remarked.  In  theory  Mr.  Hamilton  also  was 
in  favor  of  discharging  the  debt,  and  originated  the  machinery 
for  doing  so ;  that  is  to  say,  he  originated  the  sinking  fund 
machinery,  or  rather  borrowed  it  from  Mr.  Pitt,  although  this 
financial  juggle  has  now  become,  both  in  England  and  America, 
a  monument  of  folly  rather  than  of  wisdom;  while  a  much 
more  effectual  step  was  taken  in  the  last  year  of  his  service, 
when  he  recommended  the  conversion  of  the  six  per  cents, 
into  an  eight  per  cent,  annuity  for  twenty-three  years,  which 
was  equivalent  to  an  annual  appropriation  of  about  $800,000 
a  year  for  the  payment  of  the  principal.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  real  point  of  difference  between  the  systems  of  Mr. 
Gallatin  and  Mr.  Hamilton.  Laying  entirely  aside  the  gen- 
eral proposition  that  the  Hamiltonian  Federalists  considered  a 
national  debt  as  in  itself  a  desirable  institution,  and  conceding 

1  This  essay  is  republished  in  his  Writings,  vol.  iii.  p.  70. 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  175 

that  the  Federalists  would  themselves  have  ultimately  reduced 
or  discharged  it,  there  still  remains  the  fact  that  the  Fed- 
eralists made  the  debt  a  subordinate,  Mr.  Gallatin  made  it  a 
paramount,  consideration  in  politics.  The  one  believed  that  if 
debt  was  not  a  positive  good,  it  was  a  far  smaller  evil  than  the 
growth  of  French  democracy ;  the  other,  that  debt  was  the  most 
potent  source  of  all  political  evils  and  the  most  active  centre  of 
every  social  corruption.  The  Hamiltonian  doctrine  was  that  the 
United  States  should  be  a  strong  government,  ready  and  able  to 
maintain  its  dignity  abroad  and  its  authority  at  home  by  arms. 
Mr.  Gallatin  maintained  that  its  dignity  would  protect  itself  if 
its  resources  were  carefully  used  for  self-development,  while  its 
domestic  authority  should  rest  only  on  consent. 

Which  of  these  views  was  correct  is  quite  another  matter. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  system  so  long  and  ably  maintained  by  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  rudely  overthrown  by  the  war  of  1812,  and  over- 
threw Mr.  Gallatin  with  it.  Equally  certain  it  is  that  the  United 
States  naturally  and  safely  gravitated  back  to  Mr.  Gal  latin's 
system  after  the  war  of  1812,  and  has  consistently  followed  it  to 
the  present  time.  The  debt  has  been  repeatedly  discharged. 
Neither  army  nor  navy  has  been  increased  over  the  proportions 
fixed  by  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Jefferson.  Commerce  protects 
itself  not  by  arms  nor  even  by  the  fear  of  arms,  but  by  the 
interests  it  creates.  America  has  pursued  in  fact  an  American 
system, — the  system  of  Mr.  Gallatin. 

True  it  also  is  that  this  result  does  not  settle  the  question  as 
between  Mr.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  for  there  were  special 
circumstances  which  then  made  the  situation  exceptional.  As 
has  been  said,  the  war  of  1812  was  a  practical  demonstration  of  at 
least  the  momentary  failure  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  principle,  and  the 
failure  occurred  in  dealing  with  precisely  those  difficulties  which 
the  Federalists  had  foreseen  and  tried  to  provide  for.  The  question 
therefore  recurs,  whether  the  Federalist  policy  would  have  resulted 
better,  and  this  is  one  of  those  inquiries  which  lose  themselves  in 
speculation.  There  is  no  answer  to  so  large  a  problem. 

Congress  rose  on  the  1st  June,  1796,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Galla- 
tin passed  the  summer  in  New  York.  Meanwhile,  the  co-part- 
nership in  which  he  had  engaged  had  resulted  in  establishing  on 


176  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALL  A  TIN  1796. 

George's  Creek  a  little  settlement  named  New  Geneva,  and  here 
were  carried  on  various  kinds  of  business,  the  most  important 
and  profitable  of  which  was  that  of  glass-making,  begun  during 
Mr.  Gallatin's  absence  in  the  spring  of  1797. 

Leaving  his  wife  in  New  York,  Mr.  Gallatin  went  to  New 
Geneva  for  a  few  weeks  in  the  autumn  of  1796. 

GALLATIN  TO   HIS   WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  26th  September,  1796. 

...  I  arrived  here  last  Saturday.  ...  I  have  received 
pretty  positive  and  certain  information  that  Findley  will  be  re- 
elected  unanimously  in  our  district,  my  name  not  being  mentioned 
there,  and  that  I  will  be  superseded  in  Washington  and  Alleghany 
by  Thomas  Stokeley.  This  I  have  from  Woods's  friends,  who 
seem  to  be  equally  sure  that  neither  he  nor  myself  are  to  be 
elected.  The  Republicans  despair  to  be  able  to  carry  me,  not, 
by  the  by,  so  much  on  account  of  the  treaty  question  as  because 
I  do  not  reside  in  the  district  and  have  not  been  this  summer  in 
the  western  country,  and  they  hesitate  whether  they  will  support 
Edgar  or  Brackenridge.  At  all  events,  I  think  I  will  be  gently 
dropped  without  the  parade  of  a  resignation.  The  other  party 
will  call  it  a  victory,  but  it  will  do  neither  me  nor  our  friends 
any  harm.  I  think,  indeed,  it  will  not  be  any  disadvantage  to 
the  Republican  interest  that  my  name  should  be  out  of  the  way, 
at  least  for  a  while.  .  .  . 

SHIPPENSBTJRG,  3d  October,  1796. 

.  .  .  The  farther  I  go  from  you  the  more  I  feel  how  hateful 
absence  is,  and  the  stronger  my  resolution  is  not  to  be  persuaded 
to  continue  in  public  life.  Indeed,  we  must  be  settled  and  give 
up  journeying.  This  design  gives  me  but  one  regret,  it  is  to 
part  you  and  to  part  myself  from  your  family;  they  are  the  only 
beings  I  will  feel  sorry  to  leave  behind,  but  I  will  feel  the  want 
of  them  more  than  I  can  express.  .  .  . 

NEW  GENEVA,  12th  October,  1796. 

...  I  arrived  here  last  Friday  without  any  accident.  .  .  . 
As  to  politics,  the  four  or  five  last  newspapers  are  filled  with  the 
most  scurrilous  and  abusive  electioneering  pieces  for  and  against 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATES  E.      1789-1801.  177 

myself  and  Thomas  Stokeley.  This  has  raised  the  contention  so 
high  in  the  counties  of  Alleghany  and  Washington  that  my  old 
friends  have  again  taken  me  up  very  warmly,  and  I  came  too 
late  to  prevent  it.  There  is,  however,  the  highest  probability 
that  I  will  not  be  elected.  The  election  took  place  yesterday,  but 
we  do  not  know  the  result.  In  this  and  Westmoreland  County 
James  Findlay,  who  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  treaty,  has  been 
prevailed  upon  by  Addison  &  Co.  to  oppose  William  Findley, 
whom  we  have  been  supporting,  notwithstanding  all  his  weak- 
nesses, because  it  became  a  treaty  question,  and  I  expect  he  must 
be  elected  by  a  majority  of  two  to  one*  .  .  . 

NEW  GENEVA,  16th  October,  1796. 

.  .  .  "No,  my  Hannah,  we  shall  not,  so  far  as  it  can  depend 
upon  ourselves, — we  shall  not  hereafter  put  such  a  distance 
between  us.  It  is  perfectly  uncertain  whether  I  am  elected  in 
Congress  or  not ;  but  if  I  am,  that  shall  not  prevent  the  execu- 
tion of  our  plans,  and  I  will  undoubtedly  resign  a  seat  which  in 
every  point  of  view  is  perfectly  indifferent  to  me,  and  which  is 
certainly  prejudicial  to  my  interest  if  it  does  interfere  with  the 
happiness  of  our  lives.  .  .  .  Ambition,  love  of  power,  I  never 
felt,  and  if  vanity  ever  made  one  of  the  ingredients  which  im- 
pelled me  to  take  an  active  part  in  public  life,  it  has  for  many 
years  altogether  vanished  away.  .  .  . 

NEW  GENEVA,  November  9,  1796. 

...  I  will  not  put  your  patience  and  good  nature  to  a  much 
longer  trial,  and  I  know  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  this  is 
the  last  letter  I  mean  to  write  you  from  this  place,  and  that 
next  Tuesday,  the  15th  inst.,  is  the  day  I  have  fixed  for  my 
departure.  I  have  been  tolerably  industrious  since  I  have  been 
here,  settling  accounts,  arranging  some  matters  relative  to  the 
concerns  of  the  copartnership,  getting  some  essential  improve- 
ments on  our  farm,  getting  rid  of  my  tenants,  and  electioneering 
for  electors  of  the  President.  Our  endeavors  to  induce  the 
people  to  turn  out  on  that  day  have  not  been  as  successful  as 
I  might  have  wished.  In  this  county  our  ticket  got  406  votes, 
and  Adams's  had  66.  What  the  general  result  will  be  you  will 
know  before  I  do.  ... 

12 


178  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1796 

The  Presidential  election  of  1796,  which  was  to  decide  the 
succession  to  Washington,  ended  in  the  choice  of  John  Adams 
over  Thomas  Jefferson  and  in  a  very  evenly  balanced  condition 
of  parties.  The  constitutional  arrangement  by  which  the  Presi- 
dent was  not  chosen  by  the  people,  but  by  electors  themselves 
chosen  by  Legislatures,  makes  it  impossible  to  decide  where  the 
popular  majority  lay ;  and  the  rule  that  the  person  having  the 
highest  number  of  electoral  votes  should  be  President,  without 
regard  to  the  intentions  of  the  electors,  at  once  began  to  throw 
discord  into  the  ranks  of  both  parties.  John  Adams  thought 
with  reason  that  he  had  been  nearly  made  the  victim  of  an 
intrigue  to  elect  Thomas  Pinckney;  and  Aaron  Burr,  the  Re- 
publican leader  in  the  North,  as  Jefferson  was  in  the  South, 
with  equal  reason  believed  himself  to  have  been  sacrificed  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency  by  the  jealousy  of  Virginia. 
Both  these  suspicions,  deeply  rooted  in  sectional  feeling,  bore 
fruit  during  the  next  few  years. 

Mr.  Gallatin,  contrary  to  his  expectation,  was  re-elected  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  the  district  which  had  chosen  him 
two  years  before,  although  his  long  absences  from  the  western 
country  and  his  opposition  to  the  British  treaty  threatened  to 
destroy  his  popularity.  After  six  weeks'  absence  at  New  Geneva 
during  the  elections,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  take  part  in 
the  coming  session. 

The  times  were  stormy.  President  Washington,  whose  personal 
weight  had  thus  far  to  a  great  extent  overawed  the  opposition, 
was  about  to  leave  office,  and  his  successor  could  hope  for  little 
personal  consideration.  The  British  treaty  and  the  policy  which 
dictated  it  had  been  warmly  resented  by  France.  The  govern- 
ment of  that  country  was  in  a  state  of  wild  confusion,  and  its 
acts  were  regulated  by  no  steadiness  of  policy  and  by  little 
purity  of  principle.  Without  actually  declaring  war,  it  insulted 
our  agents  and  plundered  our  commerce.  Its  course  was 
damaging  in  the  extreme  to  the  opposition  party  in  America; 
it  strengthened  and  consolidated  the  Federalists,  and  left  the 
Republicans  only  the  alternative  of  silence  or  of  apology  more 
fatal  than  silence.  Mr.  Monroe,  our  minister  to  France,  re- 
called by  President  Washington  for  too  great  subservience  to 


1796.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  179 

French  influence,  adopted  the  course  of  apologizing  for  France, 
and  was  supported  by  most  of  his  party.  Mr.  Gal  latin  wisely 
preferred  silence.  The  economical  condition  of  the  country  was 
equally  unsatisfactory.  Speculation  had  exhausted  itself  and 
had  broken  down.  Robert  Morris  was  one  of  the  victims,  and 
Mr.  Gallatin  began  to  despair  of  recovering  his  debt.  Things 
were  in  this  situation  when  Congress  met,  and  Gallatin,  leaving 
his  wife  in  New  York,  took  his  seat,  December  5, 1796. 


GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  14th  December,  1796. 

.  .  .  Every  day  in  this  city  increases  the  distress  for  money  r 
and  you  may  rely  upon  it  that  the  time  is  not  far  when  a  gen- 
eral and  heavy  shock  will  be  felt  in  all  the  commercial  cities  of 
America.  This  opinion  is  not  grounded  upon  a  slight  or  partial 
view  of  the  present  situation  of  affairs.  Many  will  be  much 
injured  by  it,  and  frugality  is  the  only  remedy  I  see  to  the  evil. 
As  to  ourselves,  I  look  upon  Morris's  debt  as  being  in  a  very 
precarious  situation.  He  has  told  me  that  he  could  not  make 
any  payment  to  me  until  he  had  satisfied  the  judgments  against 
him.  We  must  do  as  well  as  we  can,  and,  although  I  had 
rather  it  was  otherwise,  it  is  not  one  of  those  circumstances 
which  will  make  me  lose  a  single  hour  of  rest.  .  .  .  As  to 
politics,  we  are  getting  to-day  upon  the  answer  to  the  Presi- 
dent's address.  The  one  reported  by  the  committee  is  as  poor 
a  piece  of  stuff,  as  full  of  adulation  and  void  of  taste  and 
elegance,  as  anything  I  ever  saw.  The  return  of  Greene  County 
did  not  come ;  but  Mr.  Miles  voted  for  Jefferson  and  Pinckney, 
which  made  the  general  vote  what  you  have  seen.  .  .  . 

After  remaining  a  fortnight  in  Philadelphia  he  took  leavfe 
of  absence  and  went  to  New  York,  where  he  remained  till 
the  1st  January.  His  eldest  child,  James,  was  born  on  the  18th 
December,  1796,  a  circumstance  which  not  a  little  contributed 
to  turn  his  attention  away  from  politics  and  to  disgust  him 
with  the  annoying  interruptions  of  domestic  life  then  insepa- 
rable from  a  political  career.  From  this  time  forward  his  letters 


180  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1796. 

to  his  wife  are  chiefly  about  herself  and  the  child,  but  here  and 
there  come  glimpses  of  public  characters  and  affairs.  Party 
feeling  was  now  running  extremely  high,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
a  party  leader,  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  justice  of  his  views, 
smarting  under  bitter  and  often  brutal  attacks,  which  he  never 
returned  in  kind,  and  imbued  with  the  conviction  that  the  inten- 
tions of  a  large  portion  of  his  political  opponents  were  deeply 
hostile  to  the  welfare  of  his  country  and  the  interests  of  man- 
kind. In  his  letters  to  his  wife  he  sometimes  expresses  these  feel- 
ings in  a  personal  form.  It  will  be  seen  that  he  felt  strongly; 
but  the  worst  he  said  was  mildness  in  comparison  to  what  he 
had  daily  to  hear. 

So  far  as  his  Congressional  work  was  concerned  he  confined 
himself  closely  to  finance,  and,  although  taking  a  very  consider- 
able share  in  debate,  he  avoided  as  much  as  possible  the  discus- 
sion of  foreign  affairs.  His  most  strenuous  efforts  were  devoted 
to  cutting  down  the  estimates,  preventing  an  increase,  and,  if 
possible,  diminishing  the  force  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  insist- 
ing upon  the  rule  of  specific  appropriations.  He  had  begun  to 
apply  this  rule  more  stringently  in  the  appropriation  bills  of  the 
preceding  session,  and  how  necessary  the  application  was  is  shown 
by  a  letter  now  written  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  saying 
that  "  it  is  well  known  to  have  been  a  rule  since  the  establishment 
of  the  government  that  the  appropriations  for  the  military  estab- 
lishment were  considered  as  general  grants  of  money,  liable  to  be 
issued  to  any  of  the  objects  included  under  that  Department." 
It  was  only  with  considerable  difficulty  that  he  carried  this  year 
his  restriction  of  specific  appropriations  against  the  resistance  of 
the  Administration  party. 

In  his  efforts  this  year  and  in  subsequent  years  to  cut  down 
appropriations  for  the  army,  navy,  and  civil  service,  he  was 
rarely  successful,  and  earned  much  ill-will  as  an  obstructionist. 
Acting  as  he  did  on  a  view  of  the  duties  of  government  quite 
antagonistic  to  those  of  his  adversaries,  it  was  inevitable  that  he 
should  arouse  hostile  feeling.  Whether  his  proposed  reductions 
were  always  wise  or  not  depends  of  course  on  the  correctness  of 
his  or  his  opponents'  theories ;  but  the  point  is  of  little  importance 
to  his  character  as  a  leader  of  opposition.  The  duty  of  an  op- 


1797.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  181 

position  is  to  compel  government  to  prove  the  propriety  of  its 
measures,  and  Mr.  Gallatin's  incessant  watchfulness  gave  the 
party  in  power  a  corresponding  sense  of  responsibility. 

Mr.  Gallatin,  too,  did  his  utmost  to  carry  the  imposition  of  a 
direct  tax,  in  view  of  the  increasing  burden  of  expenditure  and 
of  debt.  The  additional  annual  expense  of  $1,100,000  to  be  met 
in  1800  weighed  not  only  on  his  mind  but  on  that  of  Secretary 
Wolcott ;  they  agreed  that  a  direct  tax  was  the  best  resource,  and, 
unless  advocated  in  principle  at  once,  would  stand  no  chance  of 
adoption,  but  on  this  point  they  had  both  parties  against  them, 
and  for  the  present  failed. 

The  session  of  Congress  ended  with  the  3d  March,  but  a  new 
session  was  called  to  meet  on  May  13,  to  consider  our  relations 
with  France.  Of  this  new  Congress  Mr.  Madison  was  not  a 
member,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  more  and  more  assumed  the  leader- 
ship of  the  party.  On  questions  of  foreign  policy  he  left  the 
debate,  for  the  most  part,  to  others,  and  confined  himself  to 
limiting  the  appropriations  and  resisting  all  measures  which 
directly  tended  to  war. 

GALLATIN  TO   HIS  WIFE. 

llth  January,  1797. 

.  .  .  And  have  you  really  set  aside  a  mother's  partiality  and 
then  decided  that  our  boy  was  a  lovely  child  ?  You  may  rely 
upon  it  that  I  shall  not  appeal  from  your  decision,  whether  im- 
partial or  not ;  but  I  feel  every  day  a  stronger  desire  to  see  him 
and  to  judge  for  myself.  Yet  I  must  not  begin  to  fret,  for  fear 
you  may  catch  the  infection,  and  the  5th  of  March  is  not  so  far 
distant  but  what  you,  with  the  comfort  you  receive  from  your 
boy,  and  I,  with  my  head,  though  not  my  heart,  full  of  politics, 
may  wait  at  least  with  resignation  if  not  without  reluctance.  .  .  . 

17th  January,  1797. 

...  I  pay  no  visits ;  I  see  nobody ;  I  never  dine  out ;  I  sit 
up  late,  and  sleep  regularly  till  nine  in  the  morning ;  I  hardly 
speak  in  Congress,  and,  when  I  do,  a  great  deal  worse  than  I  used 
formerly ;  I  neither  write  nor  think,  only  read  some  miscella- 
neous works ;  I  am  in  fact  good  for  nothing  when  I  am  not  with 
you.  .  .  . 


182  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1797, 

24th  January,  1797. 

Most  charming  nurse  of  the  loveliest  and  most  thoughtful- 
looking  babe  of  his  age  (I  mean  of  the  age  he  lives  in),  your 
husband  is  as  worthless  as  ever.  Instead  of  writing  to  you  last 
night,  he  sat  up  two  hours  examining  Judge  Symmes's  contract 
for  lands  on  the  Miami,  which  is  now  before  Congress,  and  in- 
stead of  devoting  part  of  this  morning  to  you,  he  remained  in 
bed  till  nine  o'clock,  as  usual,  and  hardly  had  he  done  breakfast, 
dressing,  etc.,  when  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Mr.  Wolcott,  with 
whom  he  has  been  agreeably  employed  for  more  than  one  hour 
on  the  entertaining  subject  of  direct  taxes.  ...  It  seems  to  me 
that  I  have  just  now  mentioned  dressing.  Yet  it  is  necessary 
that  you  should  know  that  I  have  not  exhibited  my  new,  or 
rather  my  only  good  coat,  my  new  jacket,  and  my  pair  of  black 
silk  inexpressibles  more  than  once,  to  wit,  last  Thursday  at  the 
President's,  where  I  dined  and  saw  him  for  the  first  time  this 
year.  He  looked,  I  thought,  more  than  usually  grave,  cool,  and 
reserved.  Mrs.  W.  inquired  about  you,  so  that  you  may  suppose 
yourself  still  in  the  good  graces  of  our  most  gracious  queen,  who, 
by  the  by,  continues  to  be  a  very  good-natured  and  amiable 
woman.  Not  so  her  husband,  in  your  husband's  humble  opinion; 
but  that  between  you  and  me,  for  I  hate  treason,  and  you  know 
that  it  would  be  less  sacrilegious  to  carry  arms  against  our  country 
than  to  refuse  singing  to  the  tune  of  the  best  and  greatest  of 
men.  .  .  . 

31st  January,  1797. 

.  .  .  Your  husband  was  not  formed  for  the  bustles  of  a 
political  life  in  a  stormy  season.  Conscious  of  the  purity  of  my 
motives  and  (shall  I  add  when  I  write  to  my  bosom  friend?) 
conscious  of  my  own  strength,  I  may  resist  the  tempest  with 
becoming  firmness,  but  happinesss  dwells  not  there.  I  feel  the 
truth  of  that  observation  more  forcibly  this  winter  than  ever  I 
did  before.  I  feel  disgusted  at  the  mean  artifices  which  have  so 
long  been  successfully  employed  in  order  to  pervert  public  opinion, 
and  I  anticipate  with  gloomy  apprehension  the  fatal  consequences 
to  our  independence  as  a  nation  and  to  our  internal  union  which 
must  follow  the  folly  or  wickedness  of  those  who  have  directed 


1797.  THE    LEGISLATUEE.     1789-1801.  183 

our  public  measures.  Nor  are  my  depressed  spirits  enlivened 
by  the  pleasures  of  society ;  I  can  relish  none  at  a  distance  from 
you,  and  was  I  to  continue  much  longer  my  present  mode  of  life 
I  would  become  a  secluded  and  morose  hermit.  .  .  .  Perhaps, 
however,  am  I  myself  to  blame,  and  a  more  intense  application 
to  business  might  have  contributed  to  render  this  session  less 
tiresome,  but  .  .  ,  disgust  at  the  symptoms  of  the  prevailing  in- 
fluence of  prejudice  in  the  public  mind  have  rendered  me  far 
more  indolent  than  usual.  The  latter  part  of  this  session  will, 
however,  give  me  more  employment  than  its  beginning,  as  many 
money  questions  must  necessarily  compel  me  to  take  an  active 
share.  .  .  . 

26th  February,  1797. 

...  I  never,  I  believe,  write  you  anything  about  our  politics 
and  on  what  takes  place  in  Congress.  But  we  have  had  nothing 
very  interesting,  being  employed  only  in  the  details  of  adminis- 
tration. And  then  you  see  the  substance  in  the  newspapers, 
though  not  very  correct,  as  to  our  speeches  and  debates.  The 
little  anecdotes  I  reserve  for  the  happy  time  when  we  shall  meet, 
and  in  the  mean  while  I  am  sufficiently  engaged  in  the  scene 
without  spending  the  moments  I  correspond  with  you  in  thinking 
on  the  dry  subject.  .  .  . 


GALLATIN  TO  JAMES   NICHOLSON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  26th  May,  1797. 

DEAE  SIR, — I  received  your  political  letter,  and  am  not  sur- 
prised at  seeing  your  irritation  upon  the  perusal  of  Mr.  Adams's 
speech.  I  have  felt  less  because  I  was  not  much  disappointed. 
I  mean  in  a  pretty  long  letter  to  give  you  a  better  idea  of  our 
present  situation  than  you  can  possibly  derive  from  a  view  of  our 
debates.  These  give  only  the  apparent  state  of  the  business,  and 
at  this  time  it  is  very  different  from  the  real  one.  For  the  pres- 
ent, as  I  have  not  time  to  enter  into  details,  I  will  only  mention 
that  the  complexion  of  affairs  is  much  less  gloomy  now  than  at 
the  beginning  of  the  session,  that  although  the  other  party  have 
rather  a  majority  in  this  Congress,  and  although  from  party  pride, 
and  indeed  for  the  sake  of  supporting  their  party  through  the 


184  LITE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1797 

United  States,  they  may  be  induced  to  negative  any  proposition 
coming  from  us,  yet  there  are  but  few  of  that  party  who  do  not 
feel  and  acknowledge  in  conversation  the  propriety  of  treating 
with  France  upon  the  terms  we  mention.  They  add,  indeed, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  obtain  at  the  same  time  a  compensation  for 
the  spoliations  upon  our  trade.  Upon  the  whole,  I  believe  that 
we  will  not  adopt  a  single  hostile  measure,  and  that  we  will 
evince  such  a  spirit  as  will  induce  Mr.  Adams  to  negotiate  on  the 
very  ground  we  propose.  I  am  of  opinion  that  Wolcott,  Picker- 
ing, Wm.  Smith,  Fisher  Ames,  and  perhaps  a  few  more  were 
disposed  to  go  to  war,  and  had  conceived  hopes  to  overawe  us  by 
a  clamor  of  foreign  influence  and  to  carry  their  own  party  any 
lengths  they  pleased.  They  are  disappointed  in  both  points,  for 
we  have  assumed  a  higher  tone  than  ever  we  did  before,  and  their 
own  people  will  not  follow  them  the  distance  they  expected.  .  .  . 


GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  14th  June,  1797. 

.  .  .  As  to  our  debates,  they  are  tedious  beyond  measure,  and 
we  are  beating  and  beaten  by  turns,  although,  by  the  by,  our 
defeats  are  usually  owing  to  the  mistakes  of  some  of  our  friends, 
who  do  not  always  perceive  the  remote  consequences  of  every 
object  which  comes  under  consideration.  .  .  .  Your  papa  has  not 
yet  answered  my  last  political  letter.  I  am  afraid  he  thinks  me 
too  moderate  and  believes  I  am  going  to  trim.  But  moderation 
and  firmness  have  ever  been  and  ever  will  be  my  motto.  .  .  . 

PHILADELPHIA,  19th  June,  1797. 

...  I  cannot  yet  form  any  very  accurate  opinion  as  to  the 
time  of  our  adjournment,  although  I  think  it  probable  that  it 
will  be  some  time  next  week.  William  Smith  &  Co.  wish  to 
detain  us  as  long  as  they  can,  from  a  hope,  which  is  not  alto- 
gether groundless,  that  some  of  our  members  will  abandon  the 
field,  return  to  their  homes,  and  leave  them  an  undisputed 
majority  at  the  end  of  the  session.  My  own  endeavors  and 
those  of  most  of  our  friends  are  now  applied  to  despatching 
with  as  little  debate  as  possible  the  most  important  business 


1797.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  135 

which  remains  to  be  decided.  I  brought  a  motion  to  adjourn 
on  next  Saturday,  but  I  must  modify  it  to  this  day  week; 
whether  it  will  pass  is  yet  uncertain.  ...  I  dine  next  Thursday 
at  court.  Courtland,  dining  there  the  other  day,  heard  her 
majesty,  as  she  was  asking  the  names  of  the  different  members 
of  Congress  to  Hindman,  and  being  told  that  of  some  one  of 
the  aristocratic  party,  say,  'Ah,  that  is  one  of  our  people/  So 
that  she  is  Mrs.  President  not  of  the  United  States/ but  of  a 
faction.  .  .  .  But  it  is  not  right.  Indeed,  my  beloved,  you 
are  infinitely  more  lovely  than  politics. 

PHILADELPHIA,  21st  June,  1797. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Gerry  is  nominated  envoy  to  France  instead  of 
Mr.  Dana,  who  has  declined,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
aristocratic  party  in  Senate  will  appoint  him.  We  are  very  still 
just  now  waiting  for  European  intelligence.  May  it  bring  us 
the  tidings  of  general  peace !  But  many  doubt  it.  ... 

23d  June,  1797. 

.  .  .  The  Senate  approved  yesterday  Mr.  Gerry's  nomination, 
with  six  dissentient  voices,  to  wit,  Sedgwick,  Tracy,  Reed,  Good- 
hue,  Ross,  and  Marshall.  The  real  reason  of  the  opposition  was 
that  Gerry  is  a  doubtful  character,  not  British  enough ;  but  the 
ostensible  pretence  was  that  he  was  so  obstinate  that  he  would 
not  make  sufficient  concessions.  .  .  . 

26th  June,  1797. 

...  A  vessel  has  arrived  at  New  York,  but  we  have  not 
yet  got  the  news,  although  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  from  present 
appearances  it  seems  to  be  the  intention  of  France  to  prosecute 
the  war  against  Great  Britain.  The  aristocrats  here  give  up  the 
point  as  to  that  kingdom,  and  acknowledge  that  she  is  gone 
beyond  recovery.  The  situation  of  their  bank  and  finances  and 
the  mutiny  of  the  fleet  seem  to  have  worked  a  rather  late  con- 
viction upon  their  minds.  Had  they  been  something  less  preju- 
diced in  favor  of  the  perpetual  power  of  that  country,  ours 
would  be  in  a  better  situation  now.  I  dined  at  the  President. 
.  .  .  Blair  McClanachan  dined  there,  and  told  the  President 
that  by  G he  had  rather  see  a  world  annihilated  than  this 


186  LIFE     OF    ALBEBT    GALLATIN.  1797. 

country  united  with  Great  Britain ;  that  there  would  not  remain 
a  single  king  in  Europe  within  six  months,  &c.,  &c.  All  that 
in  the  loudest  and  most  decisive  tone.  It  did  not  look  at  all 
like  Presidential  conversation.  .  .  . 

28th  June,  1797. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Monroe  arrived  last  night.  ...  I  spent  two  hours 
with  him,  during  which  he  gave  us  (Jefferson  and  Burr,  who  is 
also  in  town)  much  interesting  information,  chiefly  in  relation  to 
his  own  conduct  and  to  that  of  the  Administration  respecting 
himself  and  France.  It  appears  that  he  was  desirous,  as  soon 
as  the  treaty  had  been  concluded  by  Jay,  that  it  should  be  com- 
municated to  him,  in  order  that  he  might  lay  it  with  candor  and 
at  once  before  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety ;  and  he  appre- 
hends that  if  that  mode  had  been  adopted,  France,  under  the 
then  circumstances,  would  have  been  satisfied,  would  have  ac- 
cepted some  verbal  explanations,  and  would  not  have  taken  any 
further  steps  about  it.1  But  he  never  got  the  treaty  until  it 
appeared  in  the  newspapers  in  August,  1795  (it  was  signed  in 
November,  1794).  The  French  government  received  it,  of 
course,  indirectly  and  without  any  previous  preparations  having 
been  made  to  soften  them.  Yet  did  Mr.  Monroe,  unsupported 
by  the  Administration  here,  without  having  any  but  irritating 
letters  to  show,  for  seven  months  stop  their  proceedings,  giving 
thereby  full  time  to  our  Administration  to  send  powers  or  any 
conciliatory  propositions  which  might  promote  an  accommoda- 
tion. But  the  precious  time  was  lost,  and  worse  than  lost; 
and  it  is  indeed  doubtful  whether  for  a  certain  length  of  time 
it  will  be  possible  to  make  any  accommodation.  The  time  they 
chose  to  recall  Monroe  was  when  from  his  correspondence  they 
had  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  succeeded  in  allaying  the  re- 
sentment of  the  French.  Then,  thinking  they  had  nothing  to 
fear  from  France,  and  that  they  had  used  Monroe  so  as  to 
obtain  every  service  that  he  could  render,  they  recalled  him, 
with  the  double  view  of  giving  to  another  person  the  merit  of 

1  This  statement  should  be  compared  with  Mr.  Monroe's  published  ac- 
count of  this  transaction  (View  of  the  Conduct  of  the  Executive,  pp. 
xix.-xxii.),  in  order  to  gather  the  sense  in  which  Mr.  Monroe  probably 
meant  it  to  be  understood. 


1797.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  187 

terminating  the  differences  and  of  throwing  upon  him  (Monroe) 
the  blame  of  any  that  had  existed  before.  They  were,  however, 
deceived  as  to  the  fact,  for,  in  spite  of  his  honest  endeavors,  as 
soon  as  the  final  vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  favor 
of  the  treaty  was  known  in  France  (and  long  before  the  letters 
of  recall  had  reached  that  country)  the  die  was  cast.  Upon  the 
whole,  I  am  happy  to  tell  you  that  from  my  conversation  with 
Monroe,  from  his  manner  and  everything  about  him  (things 
which  are  more  easily  felt  than  expressed),  I  have  the  strongest 
impression  upon  my  mind  that  he  is  possessed  of  integrity  su- 
perior to  all  the  attacks  of  malignity,  and  that  he  had  conducted 
with  irreproachable  honor  and  the  most  dignified  sense  of  duty. 
Sorry  am  I  to  be  obliged  to  add  that  I  am  also  pretty  well  con- 
vinced that  the  American  Administration  have  acted  with  a 
degree  of  meanness  only  exceeded  by  their  folly,  and  that  they 
have  degraded  the  American  name  throughout  Europe.  If  you 
want  more  politics,  read  Bache,  where  you  will  find  a  letter  from 
Thomas  Paine.  I  have  marked  it  with  his  name.  .  .  .  The 
second  mutiny  on  board  the  British  fleet  still  subsists,  and  is 
considered  as  being  of  very  serious  nature.  Adams  says  that 
England  is  done  over,  and  I  am  told  that  France  will  not  make 
peace  with  that  country,  but  mean  to  land  there. 

30th  June,  1797. 

.  .  .  We  give  to-morrow  a  splendid  dinner  to  Monroe  at 
Oeller's  hotel,  in  order  to  testify  our  approbation  of  his  con- 
duct and  our  opinion  of  his  integrity.  Jefferson,  Judge  McKean, 
the  governor,  and  about  fifty  members  of  Congress  will  be 
there ;  for  which  I  expect  the  Administration,  Porcupine  &  Co. 
will  soundly  abuse  us.  .  .  . 

Congress  adjourned  on  July  10,  and  Gallatin  at  once  went  to 
New  Geneva  with  his  wife. 

On  the  20th  November  he  was  again  in  Philadelphia,  writing 
to  his  wife  at  her  father's  in  New  York. 

PHILADELPHIA,  1st  December,  1797. 

.  .  .  Do  you  not  admire  our  unanimity  and  good  nature? 
Yet  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  it  is  the  calm  that  follows  or 


188  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1797 

that  which  precedes  a  storm.  On  the  subject  of  the  address,  it 
seems  to  have  been  agreed  on  all  hands  that  something  general 
and  inoffensive  was  the  best  answer  that  could  be  given  to  the 
wise  speech  of  our  President.  He  was  highly  delighted  to  find 
that  we  were  so  polite,  and  in  return  treated  us  with  cake  and 
wine  when  we  carried  him  the  answer.  .  .  '. 

19th  December,  1797. 

.  .  .  Our  Speaker  has  made  Harper  chairman  of  several  com- 
mittees, amongst  others  of  that  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  he  is 
as  great  a  bungler  as  ever  I  knew,  very  good-hearted,  and  not 
deficient  in  talents,  exclusively  of  that  of  speaking,  which  he  cer- 
tainly possesses  to  a  high  degree ;  but  his  vanity  destroys  him. 
Dana  is  the  most  eloquent  man  in  Congress.  Sewall  is  the  first 
man  of  that  party ;  but,  upon  the  whole,  I  think  this  Congress 
weaker  than  the  last  or  any  former  one.  The  other  party  have 
a  small  majority,  and  our  members  do  not  attend  well  as  usual. 
Add  to  that  that  we  are  extremely  deficient  on  our  side  in  speakers. 
Swan  wick  is  sick  and  quite  cast  down.  I  do  not  believe  from 
his  statement,  which  he  has  published,  that  he  will  be  able  to 
pay  above  twelve  shillings  in  the  pound.  It  is  extremely  unfor- 
tunate for  us  that  he  and  B.  McClanachan  have  been  chosen  by 
our  party.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  that,  I  think  that  unless 
the  French  government  shall  treat  our  commissioners  very  ill, 
this  session  will  pass  on  quietly  and  without  much  mischief 
being  done.  We  will  attack  the  mint  and  the  whole  establish- 
ment of  foreign  ministers,  and  will  push  them  extremely  close 
on  both  points.  Even  if  we  do  not  succeed  in  destroying  those 
useless  expenses,  we  may  check  the  increase  of  the  evil.  I  have 
read  Fauchet's  pamphlet  on  the  subject  of  our  dispute  with 
France.  There  is  but  one  copy,  which  is  in  the  hands  of  Ad- 
ministration, and  I  only  could  obtain  a  reading  in  the  House. 
It  is  candid,  argumentative,  well  written,  and  not  in  the  least 
tainted  with  the  fashionable  French  declamation.  After  a  pretty 
full  refutation  of  Pickering's  arguments  on  many  points,  blaming, 
however,  the  Directory  in  many  things,  he  strongly  advises  a 
reconciliation. 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  189 

PHILADELPHIA,  2d  January,  1798. 

.  .  .  "According  to  custom,  I  have  been  monstrously  lazy  ever 
since  I  have  been  here,  have  seen  nobody,  not  even  .  .  .  Mr. 
Jefferson,  to  whom  I  owe  a  visit  this  fortnight  past.  I  mean, 
however,  within  a  short  time  to  make  a  powerful  effort  and  to 
pay  half  a  dozen  of  visits  in  one  morning.  .  .  .  My  greatest 
leisure  time  is  while  Congress  sits,  for  we  have  nothing  of  any 
real  importance  before  us.  ... 

llth  January,  1798. 

.  .  .  You  wonder  at  our  doing  nothing,  but  you  must  know 
that,  generally  speaking,  our  government  always  fails  by  doing  or 
attempting  to  do  and  to  govern  too  much,  and  that  things  never 
go  better  than  when  we  are  doing  very  little.  Upon  the  whole, 
we  remain  in  suspense  in  relation  to  the  most  important  subject 
that  can  attract  our  attention,  the  success  of  our  negotiation  with 
France,  and  till  we  know  its  fate  we  will  not,  I  believe,  enter 
into  any  business  with  much  spirit. 

19th  January,  1798. 

.  .  .  Our  situation  grows  critical ;  it  will  require  great  firm- 
ness to  prevent  this  country  being  involved  in  a  war  should  our 
negotiations  with  France  meet  with  great  delay  or  any  serious 
interruption.  We  must  expect  to  be  branded  with  the  usual 
epithets  of  Jacobins  and  tools  of  foreign  influence.  We  must 
have  fortitude  enough  to  despise  the  calumnies  of  the  war-faction 
and  to  do  our  duty,  notwithstanding  the  situation  in  which  we 
have  been  dragged  by  the  weakness  and  party  spirit  of  our  Ad- 
ministration and  by  the  haughtiness  of  France.  We  must  pre- 
serve self-dignity,  not  suffer  our  country  to  be  debased,  and  yet 
preserve  our  Constitution  and  our  fellow-citizens  from  the  fatal 
effects  of  war.  The  task  is  difficult,  and  will  be  impracticable 
unless  we  are  supported  by  the  body  of  the  American  people. 
You  know  that  I  am  not  deficient  in  political  fortitude,  and  I 
feel  therefore  perfectly  disposed  to  do  my  duty  to  its  full  extent 
and  under  every  possible  circumstance.  We  have  made  a  violent 
attack  upon  our  foreign  intercourse,  as  it  relates  to  the  increase 
of  ministers  abroad,  of  ministerial  influence,  &c.,  and  we  have 
made  it  violent  because  it  is  of  importance  that  we  should  begin 


190  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1798. 

to  assume  that  high  tone  which  we  must  necessarily  support  in 
case  of  worse  news  from  France,  and  because  there  is  no  other 
way  to  make  any  important  impression  upon  public  opinion.  .  .  . 

30th  January,  1798. 

Indeed  I  am  to  blame.  I  should  have  written  to  you  two 
days  earlier,  and  it  is  no  sufficient  justification  that  I  have  been 
interrupted  every  moment  I  had  set  aside  to  converse  with  you. 
My  mind  has,  it  is  true,  been  uncommonly  taken  up  and  agitated 
by  the  question  now  before  Congress.  The  ground  is  so  exten- 
sive, the  views  and  principles  of  the  two  parties  so  fully  displayed 
in  the  debate,  so  much  yet  remains  to  be  said  and  ideas  upon 
that  subject  crowd  so  much  upon  my  mind,  that  I  think  it  im- 
portant to  speak  again,  and  feel  afraid  that  it  will  not  be  in  my 
power  to  do  justice  to  my  own  feelings  and  to  the  cause  in 
which  we  are  engaged.  The  subject  has  the  same  effect  upon 
many  others ;  it  keeps  Nicholas  and  Dr.  Jones  almost  in  a  fever, 
and  it  has  actually  made  Brent  very  sick.  It  is  not  that  we  ex- 
pect at  present  to  carry  the  question ;  it  stands  so  much  on  party 
grounds  that  we  cannot  expect  at  once  to  break  upon  their  well- 
organized  phalanx;  but  we  must  lay  the  foundation  in  the  minds 
of  the  disinterested  and  moderate  part  of  their  own  side  of  the 
House  of  a  change  as  to  the  general  policy  of  our  affairs.  We 
must  show  to  the  President  and  his  counsellors  that  we  under- 
stand fully  their  principles,  and  we  must  publish  and  expose  to 
the  people  of  America  the  true  grounds  upon  which  both  parties 
act  in  and  out  of  Congress.  .  .  . 

3d  February,  1798. 

.  .  .  Although  I  had  intended  not  to  write  till  to-morrow, 
when  I  will  have  time  to  converse  more  amply  with  you,  yet 
having  a  few  minutes  to  spare  this  morning  I  thought  you  would 
be  glad  to  hear  something  of  myself  and  of  our  Congressional  dis- 
pute which  has  interrupted  our  debates  on  the  foreign  ministers. 
As  to  myself,  I  am  very  well  and  feel  in  pretty  good  spirits.  I 
have  been  so  long  used  to  personal  abuse  from  party  that  I  hardly 
knew  I  had  lately  received  any  till  your  letter  informed  me  that 
you  had  felt  on  the  occasion;  but,  upon  the  whole,  that  circum- 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  191 

stance  cannot  make  me  unhappy.  We  have  a  new  acquisition  in 
our  family,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Law  (she  was,  you  know,  Miss  Custis), 
both  very  agreeable,  and  I  feel  quite  rejoiced  that  there  should 
be  some  female  in  our  circle  in  order  to  soften  our  manners; 
indeed,  the  dispute  between  Griswold  and  Lyon  shows  you  what 
asperity  has  taken  place  between  members  of  Congress.  The 
facts  you  now  know  from  the  accounts  in  the  papers,  the  report 
of  the  committee,  and  Lyon's  defence  in  this  morning's  Aurora. 
I  must  only  add  that  there  is  but  little  delicacy  in  the  usual  con- 
versation of  most  Connecticut  gentlemen ;  that  they  have  con- 
tracted a  habit  of  saying  very  hard  things,  and  that  considering 
Lyon  as  a  low-life  fellow  they  were  under  no  restraint  in  regard 
to  him.  No  man  can  blame  Lyon  for  having  resented  the  insult. 
All  must  agree  in  reprobating  the  mode  he  selected  to  show  his 
resentment,  and  the  place  where  the  act  was  committed.  As  two- 
thirds  are  necessary  to  expel,  he  will  not,  I  believe,  be  expelled, 
but  probably  be  reprimanded  at  the  bar  by  the  Speaker.  .  .  . 

The  once  famous  affair  of  Lyon  and  Griswold  is  narrated  in 
every  history  or  memoir  that  deals  with  the  time,  and  the  facts 
are  given  at  large  in  the  Annals  of  Congress.  Mr.  Gallatin's 
comment  on  Connecticut  manners  is  supported  by  ample  evidence, 
among  which  the  contemporaneous  remarks  of  the  Due  de  Roche- 
foucauld-Liancourt  may  be  consulted  with  advantage,  himself 
one  of  the  very  few  thorough  gentlemen  in  feeling  who  have 
ever  criticised  America.  General  Samuel  Smith,  of  Maryland, 
whose  evidence  may  be  supposed  impartial,  since  his  party  charac- 
ter was  at  this  time  not  strongly  marked,  told  the  story  of  Gris- 
wold and  Lyon  to  the  committee ;  after  narrating  a  bantering 
conversation  which  had  been  going  on  in  the  rear  of  the  House 
between  Matthew  Lyon,  of  Vermont,  Roger  Griswold,  of  Con- 
necticut, the  Speaker  (Dayton,  of  New  Jersey),  and  others,  General 
Smith  continued : 

"  Mr.  Griswold  had  removed  outside  of  the  bar  to  where  Mr. 
Lyon  stood.  At  this  time,  having  left  my  seat  with  intention  to 
leave  the  House,  I  leaned  on  the  bar  next  to  Mr.  Lyon  and  front- 
ing Mr.  Griswold.  Mr.  Lyon  having  observed  (still  directing 
himself  to  the  Speaker)  that  could  he  have  the  same  opportunity 


192  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1798. 

of  explanation  that  he  had  in  his  own  district,  he  did  not  doubt 
he  could  change  the  opinion  of  the  people  in  Connecticut.  Mr. 
Griswold  then  said,  '  If  you,  Mr.  Lyon,  should  go  into  Connecti- 
cut, you  could  not  change  the  opinion  of  the  meanest  hostler  in 
the  State/  To  which  Mr.  Lyon  then  said,  '  That  may  be  your 
opinion,  but  I  think  differently,  and  if  I  was  to  go  into  Connecti- 
cut, I  am.  sure  I  could  produce  the  eifect  I  have  mentioned.' 
Mr.  Griswold  then  said,  '  Colonel  Lyon,  when  you  go  into  Con- 
necticut you  had  better  take  with  you  the  wooden  sword  that 

was  attached  to  you  at  the  camp  at .'     On  which  Mr.  Lyon 

spit  in  Mr.  Griswold's  face,  who  coolly  took  his  handkerchief  out 
of  his  pocket  and  wiped  his  face." 

Some  days  afterwards,  while  Lyon  was  sitting  at  his  desk  just 
before  the  House  was  called  to  order,  Griswold  walked  across 
the  House  and  beat  him  over  the  head  and  shoulders  "  with  all 
his  force"  with  "a  large  yellow  hickory  cane."  Lyon  disengaged 
himself  from  his  desk,  got  hold  of  the  Congressional  tongs,  and 
attempted  to  try  their  power  on  the  head  of  the  Connecticut 
member,  whereupon  Mr.  Griswold  closed  with  him  and  they  both 
rolled  on  the  floor,  various  members  pulling  them  apart  by  the 
legs,  while  the  Speaker,  justly  indignant,  cried,  "  What !  take 
hold  of  a  man  by  the  legs !  that  is  no  way  to  take  hold  of  him !" 
Being,  however,  pulled  apart  by  this  irregular  process,  they  went 
on  to  endanger  the  personal  safety  of  members  by  striking  at 
each  other  with  sticks  in  the  lobbies  and  about  •  the  House  at 
intervals  through  the  day,  until  at  last  Mr.  H.  G.  Otis  succeeded 
in  procuring  the  intervention  of  the  House  to  compel  a  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities.  Lyon,  though  a  very  rough  specimen  of 
democracy,  was  by  no  means  a  contemptible  man,  and,  politics 
aside,  showed  energy  and  character  in  his  subsequent  career. 
Mr.  Griswold  was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  prominent  members 
of  the  Federal  party,  and  also  one  of  the  most  violent  in  his 
political  orthodoxy  then  and  afterwards. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

8th  February,  1798. 

.  .  .  We  are  still  hunting  the  Lyon,  and  it  is  indeed  the 
most  unpleasant  and  unprofitable  business  that  ever  a  respect- 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  193 

able  representative  body  did  pursue.  Enough  on  that  subject, 
for  I  hear  too  much  of  it  every  day.  ...  I  am  good  for  nothing 
without  you.  I  think  and  I  smoke  and  I  fret  and  I  sleep  and 
I  eat,  but  that  is  really  the  sum  total  of  the  enjoyments  both  of 
my  body  and  soul.  I  walk  not,  I  visit  not,  I  read  not,  and, 
you  know,  alas,  I  write  not.  .  .  . 

13th  February,  1798. 

.  .  .  Are  you  as  tired  of  modern  Congressional  debates  as  I 
am  ?  I  suspect  you  wish  your  husband  had  no  share  in  them, 
and  was  in  New  York  instead  of  attending  the  farcical  exhibi- 
tion which  has  taken  place  here  this  last  week ;  and  indeed  my 
beloved  Hannah  is  not  mistaken.  I  feel  as  I  always  do  when 
absent  from  her,  more  anxious  to  be  with  her  than  about  any- 
thing else ;  but  in  addition  to  that  general  feeling  I  am  really 
disgusted  at  the  turn  of  public  debates,  and  if  nothing  but  such 
subjects  was  to  attract  our  attention  it  must  be  the  desire  of 
every  man  of  sense  to  be  out  of  such  a  body.  The  affectation 
of  delicacy,  the  horror  expressed  against  illiberal  imputations 
and  vulgar  language  in  the  mouth  of  an  Otis  or  a  Brooks,  were 
sufficiently  ridiculous ;  but  when  I  saw  the  most  modest,  the 
most  decent,  the  most  delicate  man,  I  will  not  say  in  Congress, 
but  that  I  ever  met  in  private  conversation,  when  I  saw  Mr. 
Nicholas  alone  dare  to  extenuate  the  indecency  of  the  act  com- 
mitted by  Lyon,  and  when  I  saw  at  the  same  time  Colonel 
Parker,  tremblingly  alive  to  the  least  indelicate  and  vulgar  ex- 
pression of  the  Yermonteer,  vote  in  favor  of  his  expulsion,  I 
thought  the  business  went  beyond  forbearance,  and  the  whole  of 
the  proceeding  to  be  nothing  more  than  an  affected  cant  of  pre- 
tended delicacy  or  the  offspring  of  bitter  party  spirit.  And 
after  all  that,  the  question  recurs,  When  shall  I  go  and  visit 
New  York  ?  Alas,  my  love,  I  do  not  know  it.  I  am  bound 
here  the  slave  of  my  constituents  and  the  slave  of  my  political 
friends.  We  do  not  know  which  day  may  bring  the  most  im- 
portant business  before  us.  Every  vote  is  important,  and  our 
side  of  the  House  is  so  extremely  weak  in  speakers  and  in  men 
of  business  that  it  is  expected  that  at  least  Nicholas  and  myself 
must  stay,  and  at  all  events  be  ready  to  give  our  support  on  the 
floor  to  those  measures  upon  which  the  political  salvation  of  the 


194  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1798. 

Union  may  perhaps  eventually  depend.     I  feel  it,  therefore,  a 
matter  of  duty  now  to  stay.  .  .  . 

23d  February,  1798. 

.  .  .  Do  you  want  to  know  the  fashionable  news  of  the 
day  ?  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  written,  in  an- 
swer to  the  managers  of  the  ball  in  honor  of  G.  Washington's 
birthday,  that  he  took  the  earliest  opportunity  of  informing 
them  that  he  declined  going.  The  court  is  in  a  prodigious 
uproar  about  that  important  event.  The  ministers  and  their 
wives  do  not  know  how  to  act  upon  the  occasion ;  the  friends  of 
the  old  court  say  it  is  dreadful,  a  monstrous  insult  to  the  late 
President;  the  officers  and  office-seekers  try  to  apologize  for  Mr. 
Adams  by  insisting  that  he  feels  conscientious  scruples  against 
going  to  places  of  that  description,  but  it  is  proven  against  him 
that  he  used  to  go  when  Vice-President.  How  they  will  finally 
settle  it  I  do  not  know ;  but  to  come  to  my  own  share  of  the 
business.  A  most  powerful  battery  was  opened  against  me  to 
induce  me  to  go  to  the  said  ball ;  it  would  be  remarked ;  it  would 
look  well ;  it  would  show  that  we  democrats,  and  I  specially, 
felt  no  reluctance  in  showing  my  respect  to  the  person  of  Mr. 
Washington,  but  that  our  objections  to  levees  and  to  birthday 
balls  applied  only  to  its  being  a  Presidential,  anti-republican 
establishment,  and  that  we  were  only  afraid  of  its  being  made  a 
precedent;  and  then  it  would  mortify  Mr.  Adams  and  please 
Mr.  Washington.  All  those  arguments  will  appear  very  weak 
to  you  when  on  paper,  but  they  were  urged  by  a  fine  lady,  by 
Mrs.  Law,  and  when  supported  by  her  handsome  black  eyes 
they  appeared  very  formidable.  Yet  I  resisted  and  came  off 
conqueror,  although  I  was,  as  a  reward,  to  lead  her  in  the  room, 
to  dance  with  her,  &c. ;  all  which,  by  the  by,  were  additional 
reasons  for  my  staying  at  home.  Our  club  have  given  me  great 
credit  for  my  firmness,  and  we  have  agreed  that  two  or  three  of 
us  who  are  accustomed  to  go  to  these  places,  Langdon,  Brent, 
&c.,  will  go  this  time  to  please  the  Law  family.  .  .  . 

27th  February,  1798. 

.  .  .  We  are  pretty  quiet  at  present ;  G.  and  L.  business  at 
an  end.  The  other  party  found  that  L.  could  not  be  expelled, 


1798  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  195 

on  account  of  the  assault  committed  on  him,  and  the  question 
as  to  his  first  misbehavior  was  already  decided  in  the  negative. 
They  concluded,  therefore,  not  to  expel  G.,  and  we  generally 
joined  them  on  the  same  principle  upon  which  we  had  acted  in 
respect  to  L.,  and  we  then  proposed  to  reprimand  both ;  but 
their  anxiety  to  shelter  G.  from  any  kind  of  censure  induced 
them  to  reject  that  proposal — 48  to  47 — -through  the  means  of 
the  previous  question.  .  .  . 

2d  March,  1798. 

...  I  spoke  yesterday  three  hours  and  a  quarter  on  the 
foreign  intercourse  bill,  and  my  friends,  who  want  the  speech  to 
be  circulated,  mean  to  have  it  printed  in  pamphlets,  and  have 
laid  upon  me  the  heavy  tax  of  writing  it.  I  wish  you  were 
here  to  assist  me  and  correct.  Alas,  I  wish  you  upon  every 
possible  account.  .  .  . 

6th  March,  1798. 

.  .  .  The  task  imposed  upon  me  by  my  friends  to  write  my 
speech,  of  which  they  are  going  to  print  two  thousand  copies, 
leaves  me  no  time  to  converse  with  you.  I  had  rather  speak 
forty  than  write  one  speech.  I  have  received  your  letter,  and 
will  expect  you  anxiously;  the  roads  are  very  deep,  but  the 
weather  delightful.  .  .  .  You  will  receive  by  this  day's  post  the 
papers  containing  the  French  intended  decree.  It  will,  I  am 
afraid,  put  us  in  a  still  more  critical  situation.  They  behave 
still  worse  than  I  was  afraid  from  their  haughtiness  they  would. 
May  God  save  us  from  a  war  !  Adieu.  .  .  . 

1  3th  March,  1798. 

...  I  feel  now  as  desirous  that  you  should  not  be  on  the 
road  during  this  boisterous,  damp  weather  as  I  was  anxious  last 
week  to  see  you  arrived.  ...  I  cannot  form  any  conjecture  of 
the  plans  of  our  statesmen ;  they  have  got  a  majority,  and  if  they 
are  unanimous  among  themselves  they  may  do  what  they  please. 
So  far  as  I  can  judge  and  hear,  it  seems  that  the  other  despatches 
of  our  commissioners  at  Paris  will  not  be  communicated  to  us, 
under  the  plea  that  they  contain  details  which  might  injure  their 
personal  safety  there ;  but  it  is  whispered  that  the  true  reason  is 


196  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

because  their  contents  might  injure  the  party,  either  because  they 
declare  that  their  powers  were  not  sufficient,  or  because  they  inti- 
mate that  France  has  no  objection  to  treat  with  the  United  States, 
but  has  some  personal  objections  to  the  individuals  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  This  last  reason,  if  true,  appears  to  me  a  very  bad 
plea  on  the  part  of  France,  who  have  nothing  to  do,  that  I  can 
see,  with  the  personal  character  or  politics  of  the  envoys  our 
government  may  think  fit  to  appoint.  But  it  is  perhaps  appre- 
hended by  our  Administration  that  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  would 
injure  their  own  character  here  by  evincing  a  want  of  sincerity  or 
of  wisdom.  I  rather  think,  although  it  is  extremely  doubtful,  that 
the  arming  merchantmen  will  not  take  place ;  but  it  is  probable 
that  the  frigates  will  be  armed  and  a  dozen  of  vessels  that  may 
carry  from  fourteen  to  twenty  guns  be  purchased,  and  both  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  President  to  act  as  convoys  and  to  protect  the 
coast  (by  coast  I  mean  not  only  our  harbors,  but  to  the  extent  of 
one  or  two  hundred  miles  off)  against  the  privateers,  who  may 
be  expected  to  come  on  a  spring  cruise  to  take  British  goods  in 
our  vessels.  All  this  will  be  very  expensive,  of  little  real  utility, 
and  may  involve  us  still  deeper.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be 
wiser  to  wait  at  all  events,  to  bear  with  the  loss  of  a  few  more 
captures,  and  to  see  whether  peace  will  not  be  concluded  this 
spring  between  France  and  England,  an  event  which  to  me  ap- 
pears highly  probable,  and  if  it  does  not,  what  will  be  the  result 
of  the  intended  invasion.  May  God  preserve  to  us  the  blessings 
of  peace,  and  may  they  soon  be  restored  to  all  the  European 
nations!  .  .  . 

GALLATTN   TO   MARIA   NICHOLSON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  10th  July,  1798. 

...  I  see  the  prosecutions  of  printers  are  going  on.  I  do  not 
admire  much  the  manner  in  which  the  new  editor  of  the  Time- 
Piece  conducts  his  paper.  Cool  discussion  and  fair  statements 
of  facts  are  the  only  proper  modes  of  conveying  truth  and  dis- 
seminating sound  principles.  Let  squibs  and  virulent  paragraphs 
be  the  exclusive  privilege  of  Fenno,  Porcupine  &  Co.,  and  let 
those  papers  which  really  are  intended  to  support  Republicanism 
candor  and  moderation  to  unconquerable  firmness.  Pieces 


1798.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  197 

may  be  written  in  an  animated  style  without  offending  decency. 
This  is  the  more  necessary  at  a  time  when  the  period  of  perse- 
cution is  beginning,  and  at  this  peculiar  crisis  prudence  might 
enforce  what  propriety  at  all  times  should  dictate.  .  .  . 

The  Time-Piece  was  a  newspaper  originally  edited  by  Freneau, 
the  poet,  who  soon  associated  Matthew  L.  Davis  in  the  direction. 
After  a  few  months  of  editorship,  Freneau  seems  to  have  retired, 
and  in  March,  1798,  Davis  became  the  sole  responsible  editor. 
The  Time-Piece  was  short-lived,  and  expired  about  six  weeks 
after  Mr.  Gallatin's  letter  was  written. 

The  speech  on  Foreign  Intercourse,  made  on  the  1st  March, 
1798,  was  that  in  which  Mr.  Gallatin  rose  to  a  freer  and  more 
rhetorical  treatment  of  his  subject  than  had  yet  been  his  custom. 
The  motion  was  to  cut  off  the  appropriations  for  our  ministers 
in  Berlin  and  Holland,  which  would  have  limited  our  diplo- 
matic service  to  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain.  Mr.  Gallatin 
began  by  proving,  against  the  Federalist  arguments,  that  the 
House  might  lawfully  refuse  appropriations,  and  then  proceeded 
to  attack  the  whole  system  of  diplomatic  connections  and  com- 
mercial treaties,  asking  whether,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  had 
derived  any  commercial  advantages  from  the  commercial  treaties 
we  had  made,  and  entering  into  an  eloquent  discussion  of  the 
dangers  attending  increase  of  executive  patronage  and  influ- 
ence. "  What  has  become  of  the  Cortes  of  Spain  ?  Of  the 
States-General  of  France?  Of  the  Diets  of  Denmark?  Every- 
where we  find  the  executive  in  the  possession  of  legislative, 
of  absolute  powers.  The  glimmerings  of  liberty  which  for  a 
moment  shone  in  Europe  were  owing  to  the  decay  of  the  feudal 
system."  To  Mr.  Bayard,  who  had  argued  that  the  executive 
was  the  weakest  branch  of  the  government  and  most  in  danger 
of  encroachment,  he  replied :  "  To  such  doctrines  avowed  on  this 
floor,  to  such  systems  as  the  plan  of  government  which  the  late 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Mr.  Hamilton)  proposed  in  the  con- 
vention, may  perhaps  be  ascribed  that  belief  in  a  part  of  the 
community,  the  belief,  which  was  yesterday  represented  as  highly 
criminal,  that  there  exists  in  America  a  monarchico-aristocratic 
faction  who  would  wish  to  impose  upon  us  the  substance  of  the 


198  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1798. 

British  government.  I  have  allowed  myself  to  make  this  last 
observation  only  in  reply  to  the  gentleman  who  read  the  paper  I 
alluded  to.1  It  is  painful  to  recriminate ;  I  wish  denunciations 
to  be  avoided,  and  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  ascribing  improper 
motives  to  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  question.  Never 
shall  I  erect  myself  into  a  high-priest  of  the  Constitution, 
assuming  the  keys  of  political  salvation  and  damning  without 
mercy  whosoever  differs  with  me  in  opinion.  But  what  tone  is 
assumed  to  us  by  some  gentlemen  on  this  floor?  If  we  com- 
plain of  the  prodigality  of  a  branch  of  the  Administration  or 
wish  to  control  it  by  refusing  to  appropriate  all  the  money  which 
is  asked,  we  are  stigmatized  as  disorganizers ;  if  we  oppose  the 
growth  of  systems  of  taxation,  we  are  charged  with  a  design  of 
subverting  the  Constitution  and  of  making  a  revolution ;  if  we 
attempt  to  check  the  extension  of  our  political  connections  with 
European  nations,  we  are  branded  with  the  epithet  of  Jacobins. 
Revolutions  and  Jacobinism  do  not  flow  from  that  line  of  policy 
we  wish  to  see  adopted.  They  belong,  they  exclusively  belong 
to  the  system  we  resist ;  they  are  its  last  stage,  the  last  page  in 
the  book  of  the  history  of  governments  under  its  influence." 

The  speech,  which  was  in  effect  a  vigorous  and  eloquent 
defence  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Mazzei  letter,  although  that  letter  was 
barely  mentioned  in  its  course,  is  probably  the  best  ever  made  on 
the  opposition  side  in  the  Federalist  days,  and  ranks  with  that 
of  Fisher  Ames  on  the  British  treaty,  as  representing  the  highest 
point  respectively  attained  by  the  representative  orators  of  the 
two  parties.  Doubtless  Mr.  Gallatin  saw  reason  in  his  maturer 
age  to  modify  his  opinions  of  commercial  treaties,  for  a  large 
part  of  the  twelve  best  years  of  his  life  was  subsequently  passed 
in  negotiations  for  commercial  treaties  with  England,  France, 
and  the  Netherlands ;  possibly,  too,  he  modified  his  hostility  to 
diplomatic  connections  with  Europe,  for  bitter  experience  taught 
him  that  too  little  diplomatic  connection  might  produce  worse 
evils  than  too  much  ;  but  he  never  overcame  his  jealousy  of 
executive  power,  and  never  doubted  the  propriety  of  his  course 
in  1798.  Whether  the  time  is  to  come  when  Mr.  Gallatin's  views 

1  Mr.  Coit,  of  Connecticut,  had  read  Mr.  Jefferson's  Mazzei  letter. 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  199 

in  regard  to  the  diplomatic  service  will  be  universally  adopted 
may  remain  a  matter  for  dispute ;  the  essential  point  to  be  re- 
membered is  that  in  1798  the  majority  in  Congress  made  a  de- 
liberate and  persistent  attempt  to  place  extraordinary  powers  in 
the  hands  of  the  President,  with  a  view  to  the  possible  necessity 
for  the  use  of  such  powers  in  case  of  domestic  difficulties  then 
fully  expected  to  occur.  The  extreme  Federalists  hoped  that  a 
timely  exercise  of  force  on  their  side  might  decide  the  contest 
permanently  in  their  favor.  They  were  probably  mistaken,  for, 
as  their  correspondence  shows,1  there  never  was  a  time  when 
the  political  formulas  of  Hamilton,  George  Cabot,  Fisher  Ames, 
Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Rufus  Griswold  could  have  been 
applied  even  in  New  England  with  a  chance  of  success ;  but  it 
is  none  the  less  certain  that  a  small  knot  of  such  men,  with  no 
resources  other  than  their  own  energy  and  will,  practically  created 
the  Constitution,  administered  the  government  under  it  for  ten 
years,  and  at  last  very  nearly  overthrew  it  rather  than  surrender 
their  power.  Fisher  Ames,  one  of  their  ablest  chiefs,  thought  in 
1806  that  there  were  hardly  five  hundred  who  fully  shared  his 
opinions.2  It  was  against  the  theoretical  doctrines  and  ulterior 
aims  of  this  political  school  that  Mr.  Gallatin  was  now  waging 
active  war. 

The  difficulties  with  France  were  on  the  point  of  a  tremendous 
explosion,  but  he  avoided  so  far  as  possible  every  public  reference 
to  the  subject.  As  a  native  of  Geneva  he  had  no  reason  to  love 
France.  Unfortunately,  the  distinction  between  Geneva  and 
France  was  not  one  to  which  his  opponents  or  the  public  were 
likely  to  pay  attention ;  to  them  he  was  essentially  a  Frenchman, 
and  he  could  not  expect  to  be  heard  with  patience.  Neverthe- 
less, he  was  not  absolutely  silent.  As  the  conduct  of  the  French 
Directory  pushed  our  government  nearer  and  nearer  to  war,  he 
recognized  the  fact  and  accepted  it,  but  urged  that  if  war  was 
necessary  the  House  should  at  least  avow  the  fact,  and  not  be 
drawn  into  it  by  the  pretence  that  it  already  existed  by  the  act 

1  See  especially  George  Cabot  to  Pickering,  14th  February,  1804.  Lodge's 
Cabot,  p.  341. 

2  See  Works  of  Fisher  Ames,  ii.  354. 


200  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

of  France.  On  the  27th  March,  Mr.  Gallatin  spoke  on  a  reso- 
lution then  before  the  House  in  committee,  "that  under  existing 
circumstances  it  is  not  expedient  for  the  United  States  to  resort 
to  war  against  the  French  republic/7  and  after  recapitulating  the 
steps  of  both  governments  and  the  last  decree  of  France,  he 
said,  "I  differ  in  opinion  from  the  gentleman  last  up  (Mr. 
Sewall,  of  Massachusetts)  that  this  is  a  declaration  of  war.  I 
allow  it  would  be  justifiable  cause  for  war  for  this  country,  and 
that  on  this  account  it  is  necessary  to  agree  to  or  reject  the  pres- 
ent proposition,  in  order  to  determine  the  ground  intended  to  be 
taken.  For,  though  there  may  be  justifiable  cause  for  war,  if  it 
is  not  our  interest  to  go  to  war  the  resolution  will  be  adopted. 
.  .  .  The  conduct  of  France  must  tend  to  destroy  that  influence 
which  gentlemen  have  so  often  complained  of  as  existing  in  this 
country.  Indeed,  I  am  convinced  that  at  the  commencement  of 
her  revolution  there  was  a  great  enthusiasm  amongst  our  citizens 
in  favor  of  her  cause,  which  naturally  arose  from  their  having 
been  engaged  in  a  similar  contest ;  but  I  believe  these  feelings 
have  been  greatly  diminished  by  her  late  conduct  towards  this 
country.  I  think,  therefore,  that  whether  we  engage  in  war  or 
remain  in  a  state  of  peace,  much  need  not  be  apprehended  from 
the  influence  of  France  in  our  councils." 

A  few  days  afterwards,  on  the  3d  April,  the  President  sent  to 
Congress  the  famous  X.Y.Z.  despatches,  which  set  the  country 
in  a  flame,  and  for  a  time  swept  away  all  effective  resistance  to 
the  war  policy.  These  despatches  were  discussed  by  the  House 
in  secret  session,  and  there  are  no  letters  or  memoranda  of  Mr. 
Gallatin  which  reflect  his  feelings  in  regard  to  them.  His  policy, 
however,  is  clearly  foreshadowed  by  his  course  before,  as  it  was 
consistently  carried  out  by  his  course  after,  the  excitement.  Be- 
lieving, as  he  did,  that  America  had  nothing  to  fear  but  foreign 
war,  he  preferred  enduring  almost  any  injuries  rather  than  resort 
to  that  measure.  His  conviction  that  war  was  the  most  danger- 
ous possible  course  which  the  United  States  could  adopt  was 
founded  on  sound  reason,  and  was  in  reality  shared  by  a  vast 
majority  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who  were  divided  in  principle 
rather  by  the  question  whether  war  could  be  avoided  and  whether 
resistance  was  not  the  means  best  calculated  to  prevent  it.  He 


1798.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  201 

took  clear  ground  on  this  subject  in  a  speech  made  on  April  19 
in  the  discussion  on  war  measures  : 

"  The  committee  is  told  by  the  gentleman  from  South  Caro- 
lina (Mr.  Harper)  that  if  we  do  not  resist,  France  will  go  on 
step  by  step  in  her  course  of  aggressions  against  this  country. 
This  is  mere  matter  of  speculation.  It  is  possible  France  may 
go  on  in  this  way.  If  she  goes  on  to  make  war  upon  us,  then 
let  our  vessels  be  used  in  their  full  power.  Let  us  not,  however, 
act  on  speculative  grounds,  but  examine  our  present  situation, 
and,  if  better  than  war,  let  us  keep  it.  The  committee  has  been 
told  that  this  doctrine  is  a  doctrine  of  submission.  The  gentle- 
man calls  war  by  the  name  of  resistance,  and  they  give  the 
appellation  of  abject  submission  to  a  continuance  of  forbear- 
ance under  our  present  losses  and  captures.  I  affix  a  different 
idea  to  the  word  submission.  I  would  call  it  submission  to 
purchase  peace  with  money.  I  would  call  it  submission  to  accept 
of  ignominious  terms  of  peace.  I  would  call  it  submission  to 
make  any  acknowledgments  unworthy  of  an  independent  coun- 
try. I  would  call  it  submission  to  give  up  by  treaty  any  right 
which  we  possess.  I  would  call  it  submission  to  recognize  by 
treaty  any  claim  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nations.  But  there  is 
a  great  difference  between  surrendering  by  treaty  our  rights  and 
independence  as  a  nation,  and  saying,  '  We  have  met  with  cap- 
tures and  losses  from  the  present  European  war ;  but,  as  it  is 
coming  to  a  close,  it  is  not  our  interest  to  enter  into  it,  but  rather 
to  go  on  as  we  have  done/  This  I  think  would  be  a  wise  course, 
and  extremely  different  from  a  state  of  submission." 

For  these  remarks  Mr.  Gallatin  was  violently  assailed,  the 
Speaker  (Dayton)  leading  the  attack.  Perhaps  the  sting  lay, 
however,  not  so  much  in  what  the  Speaker  called  its  "  tame  and 
submissive  language,"  as  in  its  implied  suggestion  that  Mr.  Jay's 
treaty,  not  a  merely  passive  attitude  of  protest,  was  the  real  act 
of  submission.  Whether  his  policy  was  correct  or  not  is  a 
matter  of  judgment  in  regard  to  which  enough  has  already  been 
said ;  but  there  would  seem  to  have  been  nothing  in  his  language 
or  in  his  sentiments  that  justified  the  savageness  with  which  he 
was  assailed.  In  truth,  after  the  X.Y.Z.  storm  burst,  Gallatin 
was  left  to  bear  its  brunt  alone  in  Congress,  and  the  forbearance 


202  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1798. 

which  he  exercised  in  regard  to  personalities  was  not  imitated  by 
his  Opponents;  Mr.  K.  G.  Harper,  then  of  South  Carolina, 
Mr.  H.  G.  Otis,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Speaker  Dayton,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Connecticut  gentlemen,  were  as  much  attached 
to  this  kind  of  political  warfare  as  Mr,  Gallatin  was  averse  to 
it,  and,  the  majority  having  now  fairly  settled  to  their  side,  they 
could  afford  to  resort  freely  to  the  weapons  of  majorities  every- 
where. There  was,  too,  some  excuse  for  the  violence  of  their 
attacks,  for  Mr.  Gallatin  exhibited  very  extraordinary  powers 
during  the  remainder  of  this  excessively  difficult  session.  Party 
feeling  never  ran  so  high;  he  stood  exposed  to  its  full  force, 
and  by  his  incessant  activity  in  opposition  concentrated  all  its 
energy  upon  himself,  until  to  break  him  down  became  a  very 
desirable  object,  for,  though  always  outvoted  on  war  measures, 
his  influence  was  still  very  troublesome  to  the  Administration. 
On  the  5th  April  of  this  year,  Secretary  Wolcott  wrote  to  Ham- 
ilton :  "  The  management  of  the  Treasury  becomes  more  and 
more  difficult.  The  Legislature  will  not  pass  laws  in  gross. 
Their  appropriations  are  minute ;  Gallatin,  to  whom  they  yield, 
is  evidently  intending  to  break  down  this  Department  by  charging 
it  with  an  impracticable  detail."1  Three  weeks  later,  on  the 
26th  April,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  from  Washington  to  Mr.  Mad- 
ison: "The  provisional  army  of  20,000  men  will  meet  some 
difficulty.  It  would  surely  be  rejected  if  our  members  were  all 
here.  Giles,  Clopton,  Cabell,  and  Nicholas  have,  gone,  and  Clay 
goes  to-morrow.  .  .  .  Parker  has  completely  gone  over  to  the 
war  party.  In  this  state  of  things  they  will  carry  what  they 
please.  One  of  the  war  party,  in  a  fit  of  unguarded  passion, 
declared  some  time  ago  they  would  pass  a  citizen  bill,  an  alien 
bill,  and  a  sedition  bill;  accordingly,  some  days  ago  Coit  laid  a 
motion  on  the  table  of  the  House  of  Representatives  for  modi- 
fying the  citizen  law.  Their  threats  pointed  at  Gallatin,  and  it 
is  believed  they  will  endeavor  to  reach  him  by  this  bill.772  The 
citizen's  bill  broke  down  so  far  as  it  was  aimed  at  Mr.  Gallatin, 
the  Constitution  standing  in  the  way ;  but  the  feeling  behind  it 


1  Gibbs's  Administrations,  &c.,  ii.  45. 

2  Jefferson's  Works,  iv.  237. 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.      1789-1801.  203 

was  so  strong  that  a  serious  attempt  was  made  to  amend  the 
Constitution  itself.  Long  afterwards  Mr.  Gallatin  recurred  to 
this  scheme  in  a  letter  to  Samuel  Breck,  dated  20th  June,  1843.1 
He  said,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  made  by  Mr.  Breck,  "  I  believe 
the  t  black  cockade7  of  1798  to  have  been  worn  exclusively  by 
members  of  the  Federal  party,  but  certainly  not  by  all  of  them. 
Many  did  object  to  such  external  badge ;  to  what  extent  it  was 
adopted  I  really  cannot  say,  as  I  have  but  a  general  and  vague 
recollection  of  that  slight  incident.  In  some  other  respects  my 
impaired  memory  is  more  retentive,  and  I  have  not  forgotten 
acts  of  kindness.  Your  mention  of  Mr.  Hare  reminds  me,  and 
I  do  recollect  with  feelings  of  gratitude,  that  his  father  was  the 
principal  agent  in  arresting  in  Pennsylvania  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  proposed  and  adopted  by 
the  New  England  States,  which  was  personally  directed  against 
me.  And  I  may  add  that,  notwithstanding  the  heat  of  party 
feelings,  I  was  always  treated  with  personal  kindness  and  con- 
sideration by  Mr.  Hare's  father  and  by  his  connections, — the 
Willing,  Bingham,  and  Powell  families.  It  is  well  known  that 
I  think  the  general  policy  of  the  Federal  party  at  that  time  to 
have  been  erroneous ;  but  independent  of  this,  which  is  a  matter 
of  opinion,  it  certainly  became  intoxicated.  The  black  cockade 
was  a  petty  act  of  folly  that  did  not  originate  with  the  leaders ; 
but  they  committed  a  series  of  blunders  sufficient  alone  to  have 
given  the  ascendency  to  their  opponents,  and  which  at  this  time 
appears  almost  incredible." 

Mr.  Gallatin  made  no  blunders.  He  led  his  party  into  no 
untenable  positions.  He  offered  no  merely  factious  or  dilatory 
opposition.  Beaten  at  one  point  he  turned  to  another,  accepting 
the  last  decision  as  final  and  contesting  the  next  step  with  equal 
energy.  The  Federalists,  on  their  part,  gave  him  incessant  oc- 
cupation. Feeling  that  the  country  was  with  them  and  that  for 
once  there  was  no  hindrance  to  their  giving  to  government  all 
the  "  energy"  it  required  in  order  to  accord  with  their  theories, 
the  Administration  party  in  the  Legislature,  without  waiting  even 
for  a  request  from  the  President,  proceeded  to  enact  bill  after  bill 

1  Gallatin 's  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  604. 


204  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIK  1798. 

into  law,  conferring  enlarged  or  doubtful  powers  on  the  Execu- 
tive. Two  of  these,  the  most  famous,  are  mentioned  in  Mr. 
Jefferson's  letter  above  quoted, — the  alien  and  sedition  laws. 

There  were  in  fact  two  alien  laws:  one  relating  to  alien 
enemies,  which  was  permanent  in  its  nature  and  applied  only 
during  periods  of  declared  foreign  war;  the  other  relating  to 
alien  friends,  and  limited  in  operation  to  two  years.  This  last 
was  the  subject  of  hot  opposition  and  almost  hotter  advocacy. 
As  enacted,  it  empowered  the  President,  without  process  of  law, 
to  order  out  of  the  country  any  alien  whatever  whom  "  he  shall 
judge  dangerous"  or  "shall  have  reasonable  grounds  to  suspect" 
to  be  dangerous  to  the  public  peace  and  safety ;  and  in  case  of 
disobedience  to  the  order  the  alien  "  shall,  on  conviction  thereof, 
be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three  years"  and  be  denied 
the  right  to  become  a  citizen. 

The  sedition  law,  as  enacted,  was  also  limited  to  two  years,  and 
expired  on  the  3d  March,  1801.  Its  first  section  was  calculated 
to  annoy  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  had  always  maintained,  in  opposition 
to  his  opponents,  that  the  famous  Pittsburg  resolutions  of  1792 
were  not  illegal,  however  ill-advised.  These  resolutions  had 
been  flung  in  his  face  during  every  exciting  debate  since  he  had 
entered  Congress.  The  sedition  law  enacted,  first,  that  any  per- 
sons who  "  shall  unlawfully  combine  with  intent  to  oppose"  any 
measure  of  government,  or  to  impede  the  operation  of  any  law,  or 
to  prevent  any  officer  from  doing  his  duty,  or  who  shall  attempt 
to  procure  any  unlawful  combination,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor and  punished  by  fine  and  imprisonment.  Whether  the 
Pittsburg  meeting  came  within  the  terms  of  this  law  was,  how- 
ever, a  matter  of  mere  personal  interest,  about  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
did  not  trouble  himself,  but  devoted  all  his  labor  to  the  second 
section  of  the  bill. 

This  was  certainly  vulnerable  enough.  It  enacted  that  "  if 
any  person  shall  write,  print,  utter,  or  publish,"  or  aid  in  so 
doing,  any  scandal  against  the  government,  or  either  House,  or 
the  President,  with  intent  to  defame,  or  to  excite  hatred  or  un- 
lawful combinations  against  the  laws,  he  shall  be  punished  by 
fine  and  imprisonment. 

The  alien  law  came  first  under  consideration,  and  Mr.  Gallatin 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  205 

took  the  ground  that  under  the  Constitution  Congress  had  no 
power  to  restrain  the  residence  of  alien  friends,  this  power  being 
among  those  reserved  to  the  States ;  and  after  arguing  this  point 
he  turned  to  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  debarred 
Congress  from  prohibiting  "the  emigration  or  importation  of 
such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  shall  think  proper  to  admit/' 
and  maintained  that  this  provision,  so  far  as  it  related  to  immi- 
grants, would  be  defeated  by  the  law,  which  gave  the  President 
the  right  to  remove  such  persons  even  though  the  States  might 
admit  them.  His  third  position  was  that  the  law  suspended  the 
right  of  habeas  corpus  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  except  in 
cases  of  rebellion  and  insurrection,  and  that  it  violated  the  clause 
that  "  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law." 

The  friends  of  the  bill,  Sewall  and  Otis,  of  Massachusetts, 
Bayard,  of  Delaware,. and  Dana,  of  Connecticut,  replied  to  the 
constitutional  objections  by  deriving  the  authority  of  Congress 
from  the  power  to  regulate  commerce;  from  that  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes,  to  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare ;  and  ultimately  from  the  essential  right  of  every  gov- 
ernment to  protect  itself.  Mr.  Gallatin  made  a  rejoinder  on  each 
of  these  heads,  and  reinforced  his  own  arguments  by  attacking 
the  alleged  necessity  of  the  measure  and  dwelling  on  the  conflict 
it  tended  to  excite  between  the  general  and  the  State  governments. 
In  the  debate  that  followed,  Mr.  Harper  adverted  to  the  plot 
which  he  asserted  to  exist,  and  of  which  he  intimated  that  the 
opposition  to  this  bill  was  a  part,  aiming  at  the  betrayal  of  the 
country  to  a  French  invading  army.  To  this  insinuation  Mr. 
Gallatin  replied  with  an  exhibition  of  warmth  quite  unusual 
with  him ;  he  turned  sharply  upon  Mr.  Harper  with  the  ques- 
tion, "Might  I  not,  if  I  chose  to  preserve  as  little  regard  to 
decency  as  that  gentleman,  charge  him  at  once  with  a  wilful 
intention  to  break  the  Constitution  and  an  actual  violation  of  the 
oath  he  has  taken  to  support  it  ?"  Mr.  Harper's  retort  shows 
the  spirit  of  the  majority,  of  which  he  was  now  the  acknowledged 
leader.  He  neither  apologized  nor  disavowed  :  "  When  a  gentle- 
man, who  is  generally  so  very  cool,  should  all  at  once  assume  such 
a  tone  of  passion  as  to  forget  all  decorum  of  language,  it  would 


206  LIFE     OP    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

seem  as  if  the  observation  had  been  properly  applied  to  that 
gentleman."  Obviously  Mr.  Gallatin  was  driven  to  the  wall ; 
the  majority  had  no  idea  of  sparing  him  if  he  laid  himself  open 
to  their  attacks,  and  indeed,  at  this  moment,  to  crush  Mr.  Galla- 
tin would  have  been  to  crush  almost  the  last  remnant  of  parlia- 
mentary opposition.  Mr.  Jeiferson  has  himself  described  the 
situation  at  this  time  in  language  which,  if  somewhat  exag- 
gerated, is,  as  regards  Mr.  Gallatin,  essentially  exact.1  "The 
Federalists'  usurpations  and  violations  of  the  Constitution  at 
that  period,  and  their  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  were 
so  great,  so  decided,  and  so  daring,  that,  after  combating  their 
aggressions  inch  by  inch  without  being  able  in  the  least  to  check 
their  career,  the  Republican  leaders  thought  it  would  be  best  for 
them  to  give  up  their  useless  efforts  there,  go  home,  get  into  their 
respective  Legislatures,  embody  whatever  of  resistance  they  could 
be  formed  into,  and,  if  ineffectual,  to  perish  there  as  in  the  last 
ditch.  All  therefore  retired,  leaving  Mr.  Gallatin  alone  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  myself  in  the  Senate,  where  I  then 
presided  as  Vice-President.  .  .  .  No  one  who  was  not  a  witness 
to  the  scenes  of  that  gloomy  period  can  form  any  idea  of  the 
afflicting  persecutions  and  personal  indignities  we  had  to  brook." 
Then  it  was  that  the  Federalist  majority,  on  the  18th  May,  1798, 
amended  the  standing  rules  by  providing  that  no  member  should 
speak  more  than  once  on  any  question,  either  in  the  House  or  in 
committee  of  the  whole,  an  amendment  intended  to  silence  Mr. 
Gallatin.  He  laughed  at  it,  and,  the  House  very  soon  becoming 
convinced  of  its  uselessness,  the  rule  was  repealed. 

The  alien  bill  passed,  after  a  warm  but  a  short  debate,  by  a 
vote  of  46  to  40,  and  on  the  5th  July,  ten  days  before  the  ses- 
sion closed,  the  sedition  bill  came  down  from  the  Senate.  As  the 
bill  then  stood,  it  contained  a  clause  enacting  that  "  if  any  person 
shall,  by  writing,  printing,  or  speaking,  threaten"  an  officer  of 
the  government  "  with  any  damage  to  his  character,  person,  or 
estate,"  he  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor  and 
be  punished  by  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Edward  Livingston  immediately  moved  that  the  bill  be  re- 

1  Works,  vol.  ix.  p.  507. 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  207 

jected.  In  opposition  to  this  motion,  and  in  order  to  prove 
the  necessity  of  such  extravagant  legislation,  Mr.  Allen,  of  Con- 
necticut, made  an  elaborate  speech,  which  is  still  entertaining 
and  instructive  reading.  He  arraigned  the  newspapers,  and  as- 
serted that  they  showed  the  existence  of  a  dangerous  combination 
to  overturn  the  government;  to  this  combination  Mr.  Edward 
Livingston  was  a  party,  as  shown  by  an  extract  from  his  speech 
on  the  alien  bill;  the  New  York  Time-Piece  was  one  of  its 
organs,  as  shown  by  a  tirade  against  the  President ;  the  Aurora, 
of  Philadelphia,  was  another  organ,  "  the  great  engine  of  all 
these  treasonable  combinations."  These  quotations  now  read 
tamely,  and  it  requires  a  considerable  exercise  of  the  imagina- 
tion to  understand  how  America  could  ever  have  had  a  society 
to  which  such  writings  should  have  seemed  dangerous.  Mr. 
Harper  himself,  the  author  of  "  The  Plot,"  was  obliged  to 
concede  that  he  did  not  give  much  weight  to  the  newspapers ;  in 
his  eyes  Mr.  Edward  Livingston  was  the  real  offender,  and 
speeches  made  in  that  House  were  the  real  objects  which  the  bill 
aimed  to  suppress.  Mr.  Livingston  had  in  fact  announced  that 
the  people  would  oppose  and  the  States  would  not  submit  to  the 
alien  act,  and  added,  in  imitation  of  Lord  Chatham's  famous 
declaration,  "  They  ought  not  to  acquiesce,  and  I  pray  to  God 
they  never  may."  The  debate  went  on  in  this  style,  with  crimi- 
nations and  recriminations,  until  Mr.  Gallatin  rose.  He  took  the 
ground — the  only  ground  indeed  which  he  could  take  in  the 
present  stage  of  the  bill — that  necessity  alone  could  warrant  its 
passage ;  that  the  proof  of  that  necessity  must  be  furnished  by  its 
supporters ;  that  the  proof  thus  far  furnished  was  by  no  means 
sufficient ;  that  the  newspaper  paragraphs  cited  by  Mr.  Allen 
were  not  of  a  nature  to  require  such  a  measure  of  coercion ;  that 
the  expressions  used  by  members  in  debate  could  not  be  reached 
by  the  bill;  that  the  bill  itself  as  it  then  stood  was  in  part 
useless,  in  part  dependent  on  the  proof  of  necessity,  and  had 
best  be  rejected. 

The  House,  by  a  vote  of  47  to  36,  refused  to  reject  the  bill, 
but  when,  a  few  days  afterwards,  they  entered  on  the  discussion 
of  its  sections,  even  Mr.  Harper  took  the  lead  in  advocating 
considerable  amendments.  By  his  assistance  and.  that  of  Mr. 


208  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

Bayard  the  bill  was  remodelled,  and  especially  a  clause  was  in- 
serted allowing  evidence  of  the  truth  to  be  given  in  justification 
of  the  matter  contained  in  the  libel,  and  another  giving  to  the 
jury  the  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  fact.  On  the  bill 
as  thus  amended  one  day  of  final  debate  took  place,  closed  on 
the  part  of  the  opposition  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  by  Mr.  Harper 
on  behalf  of  the  majority. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  speech  as  reported  is  quite  short,  and  mostly 
devoted  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  measure.  He  first  an- 
swered Mr.  Otis,  who  had  argued  that  Congress  had  the  power 
to  punish  libel,  because  the  men  who  framed  the  Constitution 
were  familiar  with  the  common  law  and  had  given  the  judiciary 
a  common-law  jurisdiction,  and  that  this  power  was  not  taken 
away  by  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution  securing  the  free- 
dom of  speech  and  of  the  press.  The  argument  indeed  answered 
itself  to  a  great  degree,  for  if  the  Federal  courts  had  this  common 
law  jurisdiction,  why  enact  this  measure  which  had  no  other 
object  than  to  confer  it  on  them  ?  But  the  courts  had  no  such 
jurisdiction,  and  Congress  had  no  power  to  give  it,  because  it 
was  conceded  that  no  such  power  was  specifically  given,  and 
yet  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  hitherto  made  in  pursuance 
thereof  had  actually  specified  the  offences  for  which  Congress 
might  define  the  punishment.  They  must  therefore  fall  back  on 
the  "  necessary  and  proper"  clause ;  but,  as  this  was  to  be  used 
only  to  carry  the  specific  powers  into  eifect,  it  could  not  apply 
here :  "  they  must  show  which  of  those  constitutional  powers  it 
was  which  could  not  be  carried  into  eifect  unless  this  law  was 
passed ;"  and  finally  the  amendment  which  secured  the  liberty  of 
speech  and  of  the  press  had  been  proposed  and  adopted  precisely 
to  guard  against  an  apprehended  perversion  of  this  "  necessary 
and  proper"  clause.  This  outline  was  filled  up  with  concise 
argument,  and  comparatively  little  was  said  on  the  merits  of  the 
bill,  although  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  mere  expression  of  an 
opinion  was  made  punishable  by  it,  and  how  could  the  truth  of 
an  opinion  be  proven  by  evidence?  The  writing  of  a  paper 
which  might  be  adjudged  a  libel  was  punishable,  even  though 
not  communicated  to  any  one,  and  this  was  the  rule  under  which 
Sidney  suffered.  In  Pennsylvania  the  marshal  would  summon 


1798.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  209 

the  juries,  and  the  marshal  was  the  President's  creature.  To  this 
and  the  other  arguments  in  opposition  Mr.  Harper  replied,  and 
the  bill  then  passed  by  a  vote  of  44  to  41.  A  week  later  Con- 
gress rose. 

So  much  has  already  been  said  of  this  memorable  session  that 
it  would  utterly  exhaust  the  patience  of  readers  to  give  any  com- 
pleter  sketch  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  activity  in  legislation  on  other 
subjects.  His  share  in  measures  of  finance  and  in  opposition 
to  the  abrogation  of  the  French  treaties,  as  well  as  to  the  other 
war  measures,  may  be  passed  over ;  but  one  word  must  be  said 
on  another  point. 

In  March  of  this  year,  1798,  a  bill  for  the  erection  of  a  gov- 
ernment in  the  Mississippi  Territory  being  before  the  House,  Mr. 
Thacher,  of  Massachusetts,  moved  an  amendment  that  would 
have  excluded  slavery  forever  from  all  the  then  existing  territory 
west  of  Georgia.  This  amendment  was  strongly  supported  by 
Mr.  Gallatin,  on  the  ground  that,  if  it  were  rejected,  Congress 
really  established  slavery  in  that  country  for  all  time,  but  he 
found  only  ten  members  in  the  House  to  support  Mr.  Thacher 
and  himself. 

The  session  of  1798  closed  on  the  16th  July,  and  Mr.  Gal- 
latin returned  with  his  wife  to  New  Geneva.  Hard  as  his  posi- 
tion was  in  public  life,  it  was  becoming  yet  more  alarming  in 
his  private  affairs.  The  joint-stock  company  which  he  had 
formed,  and  in  which  all  his  available  capital  was  invested,  had 
been  obliged  to  act  independently,  owing  to  his  long  absences, 
and  had  been  largely  controlled  by  a  Genevese  named  Bour- 
dillon,  a  man  of  ability,  but  more  fond  of  speculation  than  Mr. 
Gallatin  ever  could  have  been.  He  had  adopted  a  system  of 
buying  and  selling  on  credit,  which  he  carried  further  than  Mr. 
Gallatin  approved,  and  the  company  had  also  entered  into  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  an  undertaking  which  promised  well,  but 
which  required  a  considerable  expenditure  of  borrowed  money 
at  the  outset.  Meanwhile,  the  country  was  still  suffering  from 
the  collapse  of  speculation.  Eobert  Morris  was  quite  bankrupt, 
and  Gallatin  could  recover  neither  land  nor  money.  Among  the 
Gallatin  papers  is  an  autograph  which  tells  its  own  story  in  this 

relation : 

14 


210  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

DEAR  SIR, — Asking  you  to  come  here  is  not  inviting  you 
as  I  wish  to  a  pleasant  place,  but,  as  I  want  an  opportunity  of 
conversing  with  you  a  few  minutes,  I  hope  you  will  give  me  a 
call  as  soon  as  your  convenience  will  permit. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

EGBERT  MORRIS. 
Monday  morning,  10th  Dec.,  1798. 
Hon'ble  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 

This  note  is  endorsed  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  hand,  "  Written  from 
city  gaol." 

To  anxiety  in  connection  with  his  private  affairs  was  added  a 
certain  degree  of  embarrassment  arising  from  his  political  situa- 
tion as  representative  of  a  district  which  was  not  his  residence 
and  to  which  he  was  almost  a  total  stranger.  It  is  an  extraordi- 
nary proof  of  his  importance  to  his  party  that  he  should  have 
been  three  times  re-elected  to  Congress  over  all  local  opposition. 
This  year  he  went  so  far  as  to  decline  a  re-election,  and  in  June 
sent  early  notice  of  his  intention  to  Judge  Brackenridge,  in  order 
that  he  might  take  advantage  of  it  if  he  chose ;  but  Mr.  Brack- 
enridge  absolutely  rejected  all  idea  of  coming  forward,  and  united 
with  others  in  urging  Mr.  Gallatin  to  remain.  No  steps  were 
taken  to  provide  a  new  candidate,  and  when,  late  in  September, 
a  letter  was  at  last  received  from  Mr.  Gallatin  containing  the 
bare  consent  to  serve  if  re-elected,  the  season  \yas  already  so  far 
advanced  that  a  new  candidate  could  hardly  have  been  put  in 
the  field.  In  spite  of  his  private  interests  and  of  what  was 
more  important  still,  the  wishes  of  his  wife,  who  was  cruelly 
situated  during  these  long  separations,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  in  a 
manner  compelled  to  remain  in  public  life.  Beyond  a  doubt  all 
his  true  interests  lay  there,  and  he  knew  it,  yet  these  compli- 
cations, resulting  from  the  theories  of  his  boyhood  and  their 
conflict  with  all  the  facts  of  his  character,  continued  to  embarrass 
his  situation  during  his  whole  public  career. 

A  few  weeks  at  New  Geneva  were  all  the  vacation  he  could 
obtain,  and  these  in  the  turmoil  of  an  election.  The  war 
fever  against  France  had  been  employed  by  the  Federalists  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  government,  and  no  one  now  denies  that 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  211 

the  Federalists  carried  this  process  too  far ;  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws  were  unwise;  the  greatest  of  all  the  Federalists,  next  to 
Washington,  John  Marshall,  of  Virginia,  did  not  hesitate  to 
avow  this  opinion  at  the  time,  though  at  the  risk  of  being  ruled 
out  of  the  party  by  his  New  England  allies ;  but  a  more  curious 
example  of  Federalist  temper  is  furnished  by  the  constitutional 
amendment  proposed  by  Massachusetts : 


COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 
In  the  House  of  Representatives,  June  28,  1798. 

...  It  is  the  wish  and  opinion  of  this  Legislature  that  any 
amendment  which  may  be  agreed  upon  should  exclude  at  all 
events  from  a  seat  in  either  branch  of  Congress  any  person  who 
shall  not  have  been  actually  naturalized  at  the  time  of  making 
this  amendment,  and  have  been  admitted  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  fourteen  years  at  least  at  the  time  of  such  election. 

This  amendment  was  universally  understood  to  be  aimed  at 
Mr.  Gallatin,  yet  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  its  supporters  could 
have  expected  its  adoption  unless  they  looked  forward  to  a  devel- 
opment of  party  power  as  a  result  of  the  war  fever,  and  a  sub- 
stantial eradication  of  the  Republicans,  such  as  would  leave  no 
bounds  to  their  own  sway.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Republicans 
were  not  behindhand  in  their  acts  of  defence.  They  believed, 
not  without  ground/  that  the  Federalists  aimed  at  a  war  with 
France  and  an  alliance  with  England  for  the  purpose  of  creating 
an  army  and  navy  to  be  used  to  check  the  spread  of  democracy 
in  America ;  already  the  army  had  been  voted  and  Hamilton  had 
been  made  its  commander,  in  fact  if  not  in  name.  A  collision 
between  the  two  parties  was  imminent,  and  Virginia  prepared 
for  it  on  her  side  as  the  Federalists  were  doing  on  theirs.  She 
armed  her  militia  and  made  ready  to  seize  the  government  ar- 
senals. Her  Legislature  and  that  of  Kentucky  took  in  advance 
the  ground  that  was  to  sustain  their  acts,  and  Mr.  Madison  him- 

1  See  the  letters  of  Wolcott  to  Ames,  29th  December,  1799,  and  Ames  to 
Wolcott,  12th  January,  1800.  Gibbs's  Administrations,  &c.,  ii.  313-321 


212  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

self  drew  the  famous  nullification  resolves  of  Virginia,  in  which 
he  declared  that  Virginia  was  "  in  duty  bound  to  interpose  for 
arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,"  and  did  "  hereby  declare"  the 
alien  and  sedition  laws  "  unconstitutional  and  not  law,  but  utterly 
null,  void,  and  of  no  force  or  effect."  It  is  true  that  the  words 
italicized  were  struck  out  by  the  Legislature;  but  the  principle 
remained.  What  Mr.  Gallatin  thought  of  these  measures  no- 
where appears,  but  there  is  among  his  papers  a  copy  of  the 
Virginia  resolutions  as  adopted,  which  was  endorsed  by  him 
at  a  much  later  period :  "  Moved  by  Taylor,  of  Caroline.  Mr. 
Madison  was  not  member  of  Legislature  at  that  session.  At  the 
ensuing  session  he  drew  the  report  justifying  the  resolutions  as 
well  as  he  could."  Mr,  Madison  continued  all  his  life  to  justify 
these  resolutions  "  as  well  as  he  could,"  but  the  only  justification 
they  were  susceptible  of  receiving  was  one  of  history  and  not  of 
law.  They  formed  a  foundation  for  revolution,  if  revolution 
proved  unavoidable. 

The  session  of  1798-99  opened  in  the  midst  of  a  highly- 
excited  political  feeling.  The  two  parties  were  face  to  face,  and 
the  Union  was  in  the  utmost  peril ;  all  that  was  needed  to  insure 
collision  was  war  with  France,  for  in  that  case  the  repressive 
measures  adopted  or  contemplated  by  the  Hamiltonian  Federalists 
must  have  been  put  in  force,  and  both  parties  were  well  aware 
what  would  result.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Gallatin,  aided  only  by 
John  Nicholas,  of  Virginia,  carried  on  the  opposition  as  he  best 
could.  Cautious  as  ever,  he  rarely  risked  himself  in  a  position 
he  could  not  maintain,  and  his  boldest  sallies  were  apt  to  be 
made  in  order  to  cover  the  retreat  of  less  cautious  friends,  like 
Edward  Livingston,  who  were  perpetually  quitting  the  lines 
to  fight  in  advance  of  their  leader.  How  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
then  regarded  by  his  party  is  best  seen  in  the  letters  of  Curtius, 
which  had  a  great  vogue  during  this  winter  and  were  reprinted 
in  Bache's  paper,  afterwards  the  Aurora.  Their  author,  John 
Thompson,  was  looked  upon  as  a  most  brilliant  young  man,  and, 
since  his  age  was  but  twenty-three,  it  is  probable  that  he  might 
have  one  day  worked  through  the  stilted  and  artificial  style  and 
thought  of  this  early  production  and  developed  into  something 
ripe  and  strong,  although  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  reader 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  213 

who  now  runs  his  eye  over  these  pages  of  ponderous  invective 
addressed  to  John  Marshall  is  strongly  inclined  to  smile  at  the 
expressions  as  well  as  at  the  thought.  At  all  events,  they  serve 
to  show  how  Mr.  Gallatin  was  regarded  by  at  least  one  young 
Virginian  of  unusual  promise,  whose  language  was  an  echo  of 
party  feeling,  however  florid  in  expression. 

"Mr.  Gallatin  has  been  persecuted  with  all  the  detestable 
rancor  of  envy  and  malice.  The  accuracy  of  his  information,  the 
extent  of  his  knowledge,  the  perspicuity  of  his  style,  the  moder- 
ation of  his  temper,  and  the  irresistible  energy  of  his  reason- 
ing powers  render  him  the  ablest  advocate  that  ever  appeared 
in  the  cause  of  truth  and  liberty.  Patient  and  persevering, 
temperate  and  firm,  no  error  escapes  his  vigilance,  no  calumny 
provokes  his  passions.  To  expose  the  blunders  and  absurdities 
of  his  adversaries  is  the  only  revenge  which  he  will  condescend 
to  take  for  their  insolent  invectives.  Serene  in  the  midst  of 
clamors,  he  exhibits  the  arguments  of  his  opponents  in  their 
genuine  colors,  he  divests  them  of  the  tinsel  of  declamation  and 
the  cobwebs  of  sophistry,  he  detects  the  most  plausible  errors, 
he  exposes  the  most  latent  absurdities,  he  holds  the  mirror  up 
to  folly,  and  reasons  upon  every  subject  with  the  readiness  of 
intuition  and  the  certainty  of  demonstration.  Elevated  above 
the  intrigues  of  parties  and  the  weaknesses  of  the  passions,  he  is 
never  transported  into  any  excess  by  the  zeal  of  his  friends  or 
the  virulence  of  his  enemies.  His  object  is  the  happiness  of  the 
people ;  his  means,  economy,  liberty,  and  peace ;  his  guide,  the 
Constitution.  The  sympathies  which  fascinate  the  heart  and 
mislead  the  understanding  have  never  allured  him  from  the 
arduous  pursuit  of  truth  through  her  most  intricate  mazes. 
Never  animated  by  the  impetuous  and  turbulent  feelings  which 
agitate  popular  assemblies,  he  preserves  in  the  midst  of  contend- 
ing factions  that  coolness  of  temper  and  that  accuracy  of  thought 
which  philosophy  has  hitherto  claimed  as  the  peculiar  attribute 
of  her  closest  meditations.  He  unites  to  the  energy  of  eloquence 
and  the  confidence  of  integrity  the  precision  of  mathematics,  the 
method  of  logic,  and  the  treasures  of  experience.  His  opponents 
slander  him  and  admire  him;  they  assail  him  with  ignorant 
impertinence  and  pitiless  malice,  and  yet  they  feel  that  he  is 


214  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

the  darling  of  philosophy,  the  apostle  of  truth,  and  the  favorite 
votary  of  liberty.  .  .  .  The  men  who  are  supported  by  a  foreign 
faction  have  the  effrontery  to  vilify  him  because  he  is  a  foreigner. 
.  .  .  This  foreigner  has  defended  the  Constitution  against  the 
attacks  of  native  Americans,  and  has  displayed  a  noble  ardor  in 
the  defence  of  his  adopted  country/7  .  .  . 

Critical  as  the  situation  was,  and  trying  to  the  temper  and 
courage  of  a  party  leader,  it  had  nevertheless  some  conspicuous 
advantages  for  Gallatin.  He  had  nothing  to  gain  by  deserting 
his  post  and  retiring  to-  the  safe  shelter  of  a  State  Legislature. 
The  nullification  of  an  Act  of  Congress  had  no  fascinations  for 
him.  Like  other  foreign4)orn  citizens,  in  this  respect  like  Mr. 
Hamilton  himself,  Gallatin  felt  the  force  of  his  larger  allegiance 
to  the  Union  more  strongly  than  men  like  Jefferson  and  Madison, 
Fisher  Ames  or  Roger  Griswold,,  whose  heartiest  attachments 
were  to  their  States,,  and  who  were  never  quite  at  their  ease  ex- 
cept on  the  soil  and  in  the  society  of  their  birthplace.  Gallatin 
was  equally  at  home  in  Virginia,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  New 
York.  It  is  curious  to  observe  tha>t  even  in  argument  he  rarely 
attempted  to  entrench  himself  behind  States'  rights  without  a 
perceptible  betrayal  of  discomfort  and  a  still  more  evident  want 
of  success.  His  triumphs  must  necessarily  be  those  of  a  national 
leader  upon  national  ground,  and  these  triumphs  were  helped 
rather  than  hurt  by  that  defection  among  his  friends  which  left 
him  to  sustain  the  contest  alone.  There  was  no  one  to  control 
his  freedom  of  action,  and  there  was  little  danger  that  his  party 
would  refuse  to  follow  where  he  led,  when  they  had  no  other 
leader.  Moreover,,  even  in  that  day,,  when  party  feeling  ran  higher 
than  ever  since,  there  was.  no  such  party  tyranny  as  grew  up  after- 
wards in  Americaiu  politics^  During  the  six  turbulent  years  of 
Gallatini's  Congressional  service  there  were  but  two  meetings  of 
his  party  associates  in  Congress  called  to  deliberate  on  their  polit- 
ical action  :  the  first  was  after  the  House  had  asserted  its  abstract 
right  to  decide  on  the  propriety  of  making  appropriations  neces- 
sary to  carry  a  treaty  into  effect,  whether  such  appropriations 
should  be  made  with  respect  to  the  British  treaty ;  the  other  was 
in  this  year,  1798,  to  decide  upon  the  course  to  be  pursued  after 
the  hostile  and  scandalous  conduct  of  the  French  Directory.  On 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.    -1789-1801.  215 

both  occasions  the  party  was  divided,  and  the  minority  were  left 
to  vote  as  they  pleased  without  being  considered  as  abandoning 
their  party  principles.1  Under  such  circumstances  an  honest 
man  might  belong  to  a  party,  and  a  leader  might  remain  an 
honest  man ;  his  action  was  not  impeded  by  the  dictation  of  a 
caucus,  and  his  personal  authority  and  influence  were  irresistible. 
If  the  discipline  and  unanimity  of  his  own  party  were  in  his 
favor,  on  the  other  hand  the  strength  of  his  opponents  was  more 
apparent  than  real.  In  the  face  of  a  foreign  war  the  Federalists 
were  in  equal  peril  whether  they  advanced  or  whether  they  re- 
ceded. The  Hamiltonian  Federalists  were  ardent  for  war,  for 
an  army,  and  for  coercive  measures  against  domestic  opposition ; 2 
the  moderate  Federalists,  probably  a  large  majority  of  the  party 
with  the  President  at  their  head,  would  have  been  glad  to 
recede  with  credit.  Under  these  circumstances  Mr.  Gallatin 
adopted  the  only  safe  and  sensible  line  of  conduct  open  to 
him;  leaving  the  field  of  foreign  relations  entirely  alone,  and 
abandoning  every  attempt  to  stand  between  the  exasperated 
majority  and  the  corrupt  French  Directory,  he  turned  his  atten- 
tion exclusively  to  domestic  affairs,  to  the  necessity  for  economy, 
to  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  and  to  Executive  encroachments. 
Within  these  limits  he  was  ready  and  able  to  carry  on  a  vigor- 
ous and  effective  campaign,  and  accordingly  he  reappeared  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  of  1798-99  with  as  little  hope  of  a  majority 
as  ever,  but  determined  to  maintain  his  position  and  to  assert  his 
strength.  At  the  very  outset  this  determination  brought  him 
sharply  in  contact  with  his  old  antagonist,  Harper,  of  South 
Carolina,  in  debate  on  the  principle  of  "  Logan's  Act,"  by  which 
it  was  made  a  high  misdemeanor  for  any  man  to  carry  on  "  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  any  verbal  or  written  correspondence  or  inter- 
course with  any  foreign  government"  or  its  officers  with  intent 
to  influence  its  measures  in  any  dispute  with  the  United  States. 
Dr.  Logan,  of  Philadelphia,  had  constituted  himself  a  negotiator 
with  the  French  nation,  and  his  conduct  gave  rise  to  the  Act. 

1  See  Gallatin's  Writings,  iii.  553. 

2  See  the  letter  of  George  Cabot  to  Wolcott  of  6th  Oct6ber,  1798.    Lodge's 
Cabot,  p.  168.     The  letter  is  printed  in  Gibbs's  Administrations,  &c.,  as  of 
25th  October,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 


216  LIFE    OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

Mr.  Gallatin  opposed  the  resolution  which  directed  a  committee 
to  report  such  a  bill,  and  he  concluded  a  speech  by  threatening 
retaliation  on  those  who  imputed  motives  to  him  and  his  party 
after  the  manner  which  Mr.  Harper  greatly  affected : 

u  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  avoided  any  insinuations  of 
party  motives ;  but  if  motions  are  laid  upon  the  table  to  bring 
about  again  and  again  declamations  such  as  have  been  heard,  full 
of  the  grossest  insinuations,  all  I  can  say  is  that  I  shall  be  ready 
to  repel  them.  If  it  is  the  intention  of  gentlemen  constantly  to 
make  it  appear  we  are  a  divided  people,  I  am  not  willing  to  stand 
mute  as  a  mark  to  be  shot  at.  I  shall  attack  them  in  my  turn 
as  to  their  motives  and  principles ;  I  will  carry  war  into  their 
own  territory  and  oppose  them  on  their  own  ground." 

Mr.  Harper  responded  to  this  challenge  with  a  defiance  that 
carried  an  innuendo  with  it,  the  meaning  of  which,  whether 
public  or  private  in  its  direction,  was  not  and  is  not  obvious : 

"  Whom  does  the  gentleman  expect  to  frighten  by  this  menace? 
Let  me  remind  him,  before  he  begins,  of  an  old  proverb  on  which 
he  will  do  well  seriously  to  reflect:  '  A  man  living  in  a  glass  house 
should  never  throw  stones  at  his  neighbors/  The  gentleman's 
own  habitation  is  exceedingly  brittle.  A  small  pebble  will  be 
sufficient  to  demolish  it.  Let  him  therefore  beware  how  he 
rashly  provokes  a  retort." 

And  Mr.  Harper  followed  up  this  defiance  by  charging  Mr. 
Gallatin  himself  with  gross  offences  on  the  score  of  personality 
and  insinuations.  To  this  Mr.  Gallatin  at  once  replied,  and  his 
reply  is  characteristic : 

"  Notwithstanding  what  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
has  insinuated  to  the  contrary,  I  believe  it  will  be  allowed  that 
the  manner  in  which  I  argue  upon  any  proposition  is  as  unexcep- 
tionable as  that  of  any  other  member.  It  is  not  my  custom  to 
depart  from  a  question  under  discussion ;  still  less  have  I  done  it, 
and  that  times  without  number,  as  that  gentleman  has  done,  for 
the  purpose  of  introducing  declamation  on  the  conduct  and  mo- 
tives, not  of  one  man,  but  of  all  who  differ  from  him  in  opinion 
with  respect  to  his  favorite  measures.  By  '  offensive  war'  I  did 
not  mean  personal  attack,  but  a  retaliation  of  that  kind  of  attack 
which  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  himself  made.  If 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  217 

that  member  thinks  proper  to  misrepresent  the  motives  of  the 
party  opposed  to  him,  I  will  myself  retaliate,  not  by  personality 
nor  by  vague  assertions,  but  by  bringing  forth  facts  to  show  the 
true  motives  of  the  party  to  which  that  gentleman  belongs.  As 
to  the  personal  attacks  which  he  says  I  have  made  upon  him. 
what  are  they  ?  That  I  charged  that  gentleman  two  years  ago 
with  not  understanding  the  subject  of  revenue.  Is  this  person- 
ality ?  Certainly  not.  How  could  I  resist  an  argument  on  the 
subject  of  revenue,  made  by  that  gentleman,  better  than  by  show- 
ing that  he  does  not  understand  the  subject,  if  that  is  true  ?  And 
I  think,  indeed,  the  gentleman  ought  to  be  obliged  to  me  for 
having  told  him  so ;  because  it  led  him  to  attend  to  the  subject, 
and  I  believe  he  understands  it  much  better  now  than  he  did 
then.  Unconscious  as  I  am  of  having  made  any  personal  attack 
upon  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  I  shall  not  be  deterred 
on  a  proper  occasion  from  carrying  into  effect  that  kind  of  offen- 
sive war  I  alluded  to,  from  that  investigation  of  the  true  motives 
of  that  gentleman's  party,  by  any  threats  of  personal  retaliation, 
especially  from  that  gentleman.  Of  whatever  materials  my 
house  may  be  composed,  it  is  at  least  proof  against  any  pebble 
which  that  gentleman  may  cast  against  it.  I  believe  that  both 
my  private  and  political  character,  when  compared  with  that  of 
that  member,  are  not  in  much  danger  of  being  hurt  by  any 
insinuations  coming  from  that  quarter." 

This  was  perhaps  the  sharpest  thrust  that  Mr.  Gal  latin  ever 
allowed  himself  to  make  in  debate,  and  its  full  force  could  only 
be  appreciated  on  the  spot,  where  both  men  were  best  known. 

During  the  session  he  resumed  his  attacks  on  the  navy,  which 
it  was  proposed  to  augment  by  building  six  seventy-fours.  The 
President  in  his  speech  and  the  committee  in  their  report  had 
dwelt  upon  the  effect  of  the  naval  force  already  created,  in  re- 
ducing the  dangers  of  capture  and  the  rates  of  insurance.  Mr. 
Gallatin  criticised  this  argument  at  some  length,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  impress  the  necessity  of  economy,  fortifying  himself 
by  a  statement  which  showed  that  the  expense  of  the  permanent 
establishment,  as  it  now  stood,  exceeded  the  revenue  by  half  a 
million  dollars,  to  which  it  was  proposed  to  add  the  cost  of  a 
navy.  In  a  second  and  more  elaborate  speech,  a  few  days  later, 


218  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

he  returned  to  the  general  question  of  the  advantages  of  a  navy 
and  the  unsoundness  of  the  proposition  that  commerce  required 
one  for  its  protection,  or  that  the  commerce  of  any  European 
state  had  in  fact  been  protected  by  her  ships  of  war.  England 
alone  had  required  a  naval  force  for  reasons  which  did  not  exist 
in  the  United  States.  Commerce  depended  on  wealth  and  indus- 
try, not  on  a  navy ;  the  expense  of  a  naval  establishment  bore 
with  disproportionate  weight  on  domestic  industry.  "  We  have 
had  no  navy,  no  protection  to  our  commerce.  During  the  course 
of  the  present  war  we  have  been  plundered  by  both  parties  in  a 
most  shameful  manner.  .  .  .  Yet  year  after  year  our  exports  and 
imports  have  increased  in  value."  He  then  discussed  the  ques- 
tion of  increasing  the  national  burdens  for  the  purpose  of  creat- 
ing a  navy.  Mr.  Harper  had  taken  the  ground  that  this  increase 
was  not  to  be  feared ;  that  the  national  means  increased  more 
rapidly  than  the  national  burdens ;  that  we  paid  less  taxes  than 
other  nations  and  could  bear  an  increase  of  them.  "  I  am  not 
surprised/7  said  Mr.  Gallatin,  "  that  we  should  at  this  time  pay 
less  taxes  than  Great  Britain,  Holland,  and  France ;  but  paying 
what  we  do  at  present,  if  we  follow  their  steps,  as  we  are  now 
proposing  to  do,  by  building  a  navy  and  increasing  our  debt, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  before  our  system  has  been  as  long 
in  existence  as  theirs  have  been  we  shall  pay  as  much  as  they 
do.  What  do  we  pay  now?  To  the  general  government  ten 
millions  of  dollars.  How  much  do  we  pay  to,  the  State  gov- 
ernments ?  How  much  for  poor-rates,  county  taxes,  &c.  ?  Sup- 
pose these  do  not  exceed  two  millions  of  dollars ;  that  will 
make  twelve  millions  of  dollars  to  be  paid  by  four  millions 
of  white  people, — about  three  dollars  a  head  annually.  I  do 
not  think  this  is  a  very  low  tax."  And  he  closed  by  recurring 
to  his  favorite  proposition  that  the  effect  of  a  navy  would  be 
merely  to  draw  us  into  the  political  movement  of  Europe.  "  I 
know  not,"  said  he,  "  whether  I  have  heretofore  been  indulging 
myself  in  a  visionary  dream,  but  I  had  conceived,  when  con- 
templating the  situation  of  America,  that  our  distance  from  the 
European  world  might  have  prevented  our  being  involved  in 
the  mischievous  politics  of  Europe,  and  that  we  might  have 
lived  in  peace  without  armies  and  navies  and  without  being 


1799.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  219 

deeply  involved  in  debt.  It  is  true  in  this  dream  I  had  con- 
ceived it  would  have  been  our  object  to  have  become  a  happy 
and  not  a  powerful  nation,  or  at  least  no  way  powerful  except 
for  self-defence." 

The  navy  having  been  provided  for,  the  House  fell  into  a  dis- 
pute on  the  reference  of  certain  petitions  against  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws.  Matthew  Lyon,  the  member  from  Vermont,  had 
been,  during  the  summer,  prosecuted,  convicted,  and  imprisoned 
under  the  sedition  law.  There  was  great  vehemence  of  feeling 
on  both  sides  regarding  this  law,  and  the  majority  in  the  House 
were  unwilling  even  to  hear  it  discussed.  Mr.  Gallatin  took  the 
occasion  to  disavow  all  idea  of  encouraging  resistance  to  it.  "  I 
do  not  expect  the  alien  law  to  be  repealed,  though  I  have  hopes 
that  the  sedition  law  may  be  repealed  ;  and  though  I  do  not  be- 
lieve the  alien  law  to  be  supported  by  the  Constitution,  yet  I  wish 
the  people  to  submit  to  it.  So  far  from  desiring  to  inflame  the 
public  opinion  on  account  of  it  or  anything  else,  I  would  endeavor 
to  calm  the  minds  of  the  people,  because  I  know  that  whenever 
anarchy  shall  be  produced  in  any  part  of  the  country  it  will  ruin 
the  cause  which  I  wish  to  support,  and  tend  only  to  give  addi- 
tional power  to  the  Executive  department  of  the  government, 
which,  in  my  opinion,  already  possesses  too  much/'  A  few  days 
afterwards  occurred  the  curious  scene  mentioned  by  Mr.  Jeiferson 
in  his  letter  of  26th  February,  1799,  to  Mr.  Madison:  "Yester- 
day witnessed  a  scandalous  scene  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. It  was  the  day  for  taking  up  the  report  of  their  committee 
against  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  &c.  They  held  a  caucus 
and  determined  that  not  a  word  should  be  spoken  on  their  side  in 
answer  to  anything  which  should  be  said  on  the  other.  Gallatin 
took  up  the  alien  and  Nicholas  the  sedition  law ;  but  after  a  little 
while  of  common  silence  they  began  to  enter  into  loud  conversa- 
tions, laugh,  cough,  &c.,  so  that  for  the  last  hour  of  these  gen- 
tlemin's  speaking  they  must  have  had  the  lungs  of  a  vendue 
master  to  have  been  heard.  Livingston,  however,  attempted  to 
speak.  But  after  a  few  sentences  the  Speaker  called  him  to  order 
and  to'd  him  what  he  was  saying  was  not  to  the  question.  It 
was  impossible  to  proceed.  The  question  was  taken  and  carried 
in  favor  of  the  report,  fifty-two  to  forty-eight ;  the  real  strength 


220  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1799. 

of  the  two  parties  is  fifty-six  to  fifty.  But  two  of  the  latter  have 
not  attended  this  session." 

These  two  speeches  of  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Nicholas  were 
published  in  pamplet  form  and  widely  circulated.  That  of  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  devoted  to  answering  the  report  of  the  committee, 
and  followed  closely  the  arguments  of  that  paper;  he  urged  that 
the  doctrine  of  constructive  powers,  on  which  Congress  rested  its 
belief  of  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  this  Act,  "  substituted  in 
that  clause  of  the  Constitution  a  supposed  usefulness  or  propriety 
for  the  necessity  expressed  and  contemplated  by  the  instrument, 
and  would,  in  fact  destroy  every  limitation  of  the  powers  of 
Congress.  It  will  follow  that  instead  of  being  bound  by  any 
positive  rule  laid  down  by  their  charter,  the  discretion  of  Con- 
gress, a  discretion  to  be  governed  by  suspicions,  alarms,  popular 
clamor,  private  ambition,  and  by  the  views  of  fluctuating  fac- 
tions, will  justify  any  measure  they  may  choose  to  adopt."  There 
was  no  good  answer  to  this  objection,  and  none  has  ever  been 
made,  but  nevertheless  it  is  quite  clear  that  Congress  alone  can 
decide  upon  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  any  Act  intended  to 
carry  its  powers  into  effect,  and  that  there  exists  no  force  in  the 
government  which  can  control  its  decision.  The  "necessary  and 
proper"  clause,  dangerous  as  it  was  and  is,  did  not  become  less 
dangerous  by  the  defeat  of  the  Federalists  and  their  expulsion 
from  power.  The  time  came  when  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  present 
opponents  stood  in  positions  precisely  reversed,  and  when  he  was 
compelled  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to  ask  for  powers  quite 
as  dangerous  as  those  he  was  now  arguing  against.  Congress 
granted  them,  and  he  exercised  them,  greatly  against  his  will 
and  amid  the  denunciations  of  his  Federalist  enemies.  The  logic 
of  events  not  infrequently  proved,  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  experience, 
more  effective  than  all  his  theoretical  opinions. 

Already,  however,  a  week  before  this  speech  was  delivered, 
an  event  had  occurred  which  entirely  changed  the  situation 
of  affairs  and  made  Mr.  Gallatin's  position  comparatively  easy. 
The  President  suddenly  intervened  between  the  two  excited  par- 
ties, and,  taking  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  without  consult- 
ing his  Cabinet,  without  the  knowledge  of  any  of  his  friends, 
on  the  19th  February,  1799,  sent  to  the  Senate  the  nomination 


1799.  THE     LEGISLATUEE.      1789-1801.  221 

of  William  Vans  Murray  as  minister  to  the  French  republic. 
This  nomination  fell  like  a  thunder-bolt  between  the  conflicting 
forces.  At  first  its  full  consequences  were  not  understood ;  only 
by  slow  degrees  did  it  become  clear  that  it  meant  the  expulsion 
from  power  of  the  Hamiltonian  wing  of  the  party  and  the  end 
of  their  whole  system  of  politics.  Their  war  with  France,  their 
army,  their  navy,  their  repressive  legislation,  all  fell  together. 
The  immediate  dangers,  which  had  threatened  civil  war,  dis- 
appeared. A  violent  schism  in  the  Federal  ranks  immediately 
followed,  and  the  overthrow  of  that  party  in  the  next  election 
became  almost  inevitable. 

Before  these  startling  changes  were  fully  understood  by  either 
party,  the  Fifth  Congress  came  to  its  end,  on  the  4th  March, 
1799,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  at  once  set  out  for  Fayette  to  rejoin  his 
wife  and  struggle  with  the  financial  difficulties  that  now  per- 
plexed his  mind.  After  long  hesitation,  he  had  taken  on  the 
part  of  his  firm  a  contract  for  supplying  arms  to  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania.  Like  most  of  his  financial  undertakings,  this 
became  a  source  of  loss  rather  than  of  profit,  and  it  was  probably 
fortunate  that  his  acceptance  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  1801 
obliged  him  to  dissolve  his  partnership  and  wind  up  its  affairs. 


GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  7th  December,  1798. 

.  .  .  Once  more  I  am  fixed  at  Marache's,  and  write  you 
from  the  fire-corner  in  my  old  front  room.  I  wrote  you  a  few 
lines  from  Lancaster,  which  I  hope  you  have  received.  I  could 
not  make  my  letter  any  longer,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could 
even  write  at  all.  I  arrived  there  after  dark,  mistook  the  tavern 
I  intended  to  have  lodged  at,  and  took  my  lodgings  at  an  old 
German  Tory  who  happened  to  know  me.  He  was  a  little  tipsy, 
followed  me  to  my  room  where  I  was  writing,  in  order  to  have 
some  political  conversation  with  me,  and  was,  at  the  time  whilst 
I  was  writing  my  letter  to  you,  reading  me  a  lecture  to  prove  to 
me  that  the  Hessian  fly  was  improperly  so  called,  that  Porcupine 
had  proven  it  to  be  of  French  extraction,  and  that  it  was  a  just 
cause  of  war  against  that  nation.  Saturday  night  I  lodged  com- 


222  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1798. 

fortably  at  Downingstown,  where  many  kind  inquiries  were  made 
about  you.  The  weather  changed  during  the  night,  and  Sunday 
we  had  almost  all  day  a  cold,  chilling  rain.  William  Findley 
joined  me  in  the  morning  at  Downing's,  and  we  made  shift  to  go 
that  evening  as  far  as  Buck.  Monday  was  a  fine  day,  and  at  nine 
o'clock  I  was  at  breakfast  in  Marache's  parlor  with  Mr.  Lang- 
don,  who  arrived  a  few  minutes  after  me.  Havens  joined  us  the 
same  day,  as  did  Elmendorf  the  following  and  Nicholas  yesterday. 
Dr.  Jones  is  not  yet  in  town.  .  .  .  The  account  of  my  business 
in  Europe  is  as  folio weth :  1st.  They  have  sold  my  grand- 
father's estate  and  paid  all  his  debts,  which  (on  account  of  losses 
of  rents,  &c.)  amounted  to  about  200  dollars  more  than  what 
they  sold  the  estate  for.  The  price  it  sold  for  is  less  than  one- 
half  of  what  it  was  worth  before  the  French  revolution.  But 
my  orders  were  positive  to  sell  and  to  pay  all  the  debts,  although 
they  amounted  to  more  than  the  proceeds  of  the  estate,  in  order 
to  do  full  honor  to  the  memory  of  my  parents.  Thus  their  in- 
heritance has  cost  me  200  dollars,  instead  of  leaving  me  6000  as 
they  expected,  but  I  could  not  have  reconciled  it  to  my  feelings 
that  any  individual  had  lost  a  single  half-penny  either  by  me  or 
by  them.  2d.  My  annuities  in  France,  amounting  to  about  3000 
livres  a  year  (555  dollars),  have  in  four  years  produced  369  livres 
cash  (not  quite  80  dollars),  and  the  principal,  which  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  revolution  was  worth  about  5000  dollars,  has  been 
paid  off  in  various  species  of  paper  which  are  worth  now  exactly 
300  dollars  cash.  3d.  My  share  of  the  Dutch  inheritance  con- 
sists of  15,000  guilders  (6000  dollars)  in  the  Dutch  public  funds, 
333  pounds  sterling  in  the  English  South  Sea  stock,  and  one- 
sixth  undivided  part  of  a  sugar  plantation  in  Surinam.  The 
effect  of  the  French  and  Dutch  revolutions  on  the  Dutch  funds 
has  been  to  sink  them  60  per  cent.,  so  that  my  6000  dollars  there 
are  worth  only  2000.  You  may  see  by  that  that  the  French 
revolution  has  cost  me  exactly  16,000  dollars,  to  wit:  6000  loss 
on  my  grandfather's  inheritance,  6000  on  the  interest  and  princi- 
pal of  my  annuities  in  France,  and  4000  on  the  Dutch  stock. 
Yet  the  Federals  call  me  a  Frenchman,  in  the  French  interest 
and  forsooth  in  the  French  pay.  Let  them  clamor.  I  want 
no  reward  but  self-approbation, — and  yours,  my  beloved,  too. 


1798.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  223 

...  On  the  other  hand,  my  friends'  letters  are  as  affection- 
ate and  tender  as  I  could  expect,  and  more  than  from  my  long 
neglect  I  deserved.  Many  things  for  you.  They  say  that  at  a 
former  period  they  would  have  insisted  on  my  bringing  you  to 
Europe,  but  think  that  Providence  has  placed  us  in  a  better 
situation.  And  so  do  I.  ...  As  to  politics,  you  know  the  de- 
struction of  the  French  fleet  in  Egypt.  The  news  of  peace  being 
made  by  them  at  Radstat  with  the  Empire  and  Emperor  is  gen- 
erally believed.  That  they  have  found  it  their  interest  to  change 
their  measures  with  all  neutrals,  and  that  an  honorable  accom- 
modation is  in  the  power  of  our  Administration  is,  in  my  opinion, 
a  certain  fact.  We  are  to  have  the  speech  only  to-morrow 
(Saturday).  I  expect  it  will  be  extremely  violent  against  an 
insidious  enemy  and  a  domestic  faction.  They  (the  Federals) 
avow  a  design  of  keeping  up  a  standing  army  for  domestic  pur- 
poses, for  since  the  French  fleet  is  destroyed  they  cannot  even 
affect  to  believe  that  there  is  any  danger  of  French  invasion. 
General  Washington,  Hamilton,  Pinckney,  are  still  in  town.  In 
their  presence  and  at  the  table  of  Governor  Mifflin,  Hamilton 
declared  that  a  standing  army  was  necessary,  that  the  aspect  of 
Virginia  was  threatening,  and  that  he  had  the  most  correct  and 
authentic  information  that  the  ferment  in  the  western  counties 
of  Pennsylvania  was  greater  than  previous  to  the  insurrection 
of  1794.  You  know  this  to  be  an  abominable  lie.  But  I  sup- 
pose that  Addison  &  Co.  have  informed  him  that  the  people 
turning  out  on  an  election  day  was  a  symptom  of  insurrection. 
Pickering  says  that  militia  are  good  for  nothing  unless  they  have 
50,000  men  of  regular  troops  around  which  to  rally.  When 
John  Adams  was  informed  that  the  Batavian  republic  had  offered 
their  mediation  to  accommodate  the  disputes  between  this  country 
and  France,  he  answered,  "  I  do  not  want  any  mediation."  .  .  . 

14th  December,  1798. 

.  .  .  The  papers  will  show  you  the  speech  of  the  President 
more  moderate  than  we  expected.  For  by  offering  terms  of 
peace  in  case  France  shall  send  an  ambassador,  and  I  believe 
they  will  do  it,  he  has  left  an  opening  to  negotiation  which  was 
not  perhaps  desired  by  all  his  faction.  If  we  consider  that  at 


224  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1798. 

the  same  time  he  openly  disclaims  any  idea  of  alliance  with  any 
nation,  and  if  it  is  also  remembered  that  from  the  wisdom  of  our 
conduct  all  our  trade  now  centres  in  Great  Britain,  and  that  this 
last  nation,  being  also  now  the  most  favored  here,  derives  in  fact 
greater  benefit  from  our  continuing  to  act  in  the  same  manner  we 
have  lately  done  than  from  our  becoming  actually  parties  to  the 
war ;  it  will  not  appear  improbable  that  a  refusal  on  the  part  of 
England  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  us  except  on  such  terms 
as  even  our  Administration  would  not  or  dared  not  accept,  is  the 
true  occasion  of  the  apparent  change.  I  do  not  enclose  the  de- 
bates, since  Bache  has  reprinted  them  from  Claypoole.  We  have 
thought  better  to  let  the  answer  to  the  address  go  without  debate, 
as  we  mean,  if  possible,  to  avoid  fighting  on  foreign  ground. 
Their  clamor  about  foreign  influence  is  the  only  thing  we  have  to 
fear,  and  on  domestic  affairs  exclusively  we  must  resist  them.  .  .  . 

21st  December,  1798. 

.  .  .  Here  government  proceeds  slowly.  We  have  not  yet 
received  the  promised  communication  of  French  affairs ;  we  un- 
derstand that  the  object  of  the  Executive  party  will  be  to  obtain 
from  us  the  building  of  six  74-gun  ships  and  something  that  may 
increase  the  number  of  Federal  volunteers  and  convert  a  greater 
part  of  the  militia  into  an  army.  As  to  ourselves,  we  will  avoid 
French  questions  and  foreign  ground,  and,  when  our  House  is 
full,  make  an  attempt  against  the  sedition  and  alien  bills.  Reso- 
lutions to  declare  them  unconstitutional,  null  and  void,  are  now 
before  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  and  will  probably  be  carried 
by  a  large  majority.  The  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (to  ex- 
clude me)  proposed  by  Massachusetts  has  also  been  recommended 
by  the  four  other  New  England  States  and  rejected  by  Maryland. 
It  will,  I  believe,  be  recommended  by  Pennsylvania,  as  the  party 
have  got  a  majority  in  both  Houses.  All  that  is  very  ridiculous, 
for  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  unless  two-thirds  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress  shall  first  recommend  it,  and  then  three- 
fourths  of  the  States  must  again  take  it  into  consideration  and 
ratify  it.  I  do  not  believe  it  will  even  be  taken  under  consider- 
ation by  Congress,  and  if  it  is,  it  will  be  rejected.  Poor,  weak 
Governor  Henry  recommended  its  adoption  to  the  Legislature 


1799.  THE.    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  225 

of  Maryland  in  his  last  speech.     They  rejected  it  almost  unani- 
mously.    The  poor  old  gentleman  is  since  dead.  .  .  . 

4th  January,  1799. 

.  .  .  Another  year  has  revolved  over  our  heads,  and  on  a  retro- 
spect (how  shall  I  ever  dare  to  accuse  you  with  want  of  fortitude 
or  resignation  ?)  I  mark  it  as  one  of  those  in  which  I  have  ex- 
perienced most  unhappiness.  Take  notice,  however,  that  I  do 
not  set  it  down  as  one  of  those  in  which  I  have  been  least  happy. 
...  I  think  that  no  man  ever  felt  less  uneasiness  from  a  mere 
loss  of  money  than  I  do.  The  folly  of  applying  a  part  of  our 
property  to  the  building  of  houses,  &c.,  the  bad  sale  of  my  lands 
to  Mr.  Morris,  the  final  loss  of  the  balance  of  3000  dollars  he 
owed  me,  the  eventual  loss  of  the  1000  dollars  I  had  lent  to  Ba- 
dollet  in  our  company's  business  and  which  he  has  consumed,  the 
almost  total  destruction  of  what  I  might  have  called  a  handsome 
estate,  I  mean  my  property  in  Europe,  and  I  may  add  of  my 
future  prospects  there, — all  these,  although  they  are  losses  in- 
curred since  our  union,  have  never  had  the  least  effect  on  my 
spirits  or  happiness.  To  be  in  debt  was  at  all  times  viewed  by 
me  with  a  kind  of  horror,  and  that  feeling  has  become  so  much 
the  habit  of  my  mind  that  it  has  perhaps  disarmed  me  from  that 
fortitude  which  is  necessary  in  order  to  meet  any  of  the  accidents 
of  life ;  at  least  I  am  sure  that  I  cannot  exercise  it  in  that  par- 
ticular instance.  Hence  the  egregious  folly,  knowing  myself  as 
I  did,  ever  to  have  entered  in  business  with  anybody,  so  as  to 
put  it  in  the  power  of  any  person  to  involve  me  in  a  situation  in 
which  no  possible  consideration  would  have  induced  me  volun- 
tarily to  fall.  A  folly  still  more  aggravated  by  the  knowledge  I 
had  that  I  could  not  personally  attend  myself,  and  that  the  busi- 
ness would  be  chiefly  conducted  by  a  man  whose  disposition  and 
turn  of  mind  were  unknown  to  me.  .  .  .  From  all  these  consider- 
ations arises  that  fluctuation  of  mind  which  you  cannot  but  have 
observed  in  my  correspondence  on  the  subject  of  the  contract  for 
arms.  .  .  .  Should  I  agree  to  that  contract,  and  should  we  fail 
in  the  execution  from  any  accident  whatever,  it  is  a  risk  of 
26,000  dollars,  that  is  to  say,  more  than  we  as  a  company,  and 
I  as  an  individual,  are  worth.  .  .  . 

15 


226  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1799. 

18th  January,  1799. 

...  I  begin  to  think  that  one  of  the  causes  of  my  opposition 
to  a  great  extension  of  Executive  power  is  that  constitutional 
indolence  which,  notwithstanding  some  share  of  activity  of  mind, 
makes  me  more  fit  to  think  than  to  act.  I  believe  that  I  am  well 
calculated  to  judge  and  to  determine  what  course  ought  to  be  fol- 
lowed either  in  private  or  public  business.  But  I  must  have 
executive  officers  who  will  consult  me  and  act  for  me.  In  that 
point  of  view  my  connection  with  Bourdillon  was  unfortunate. 
.  .  .  My  eyes  are  no  better.  I  neither  read  nor  write  after  dark, 
and  I  go  to  bed  earlier.  But  every  morning  when  I  rise,  almost 
an  hour  elapses  before  I  can  read  without  feeling  something  like 
fatigue.  In  the  evening  I  might  read  if  I  chose ;  it  is  only  out  of 
caution  that  I  have  given  it  up.  Hence  I  have  but  very  little 
time  to  do  anything  whatever.  For  rising  at  9,  attending  Con- 
gress from  11  till  3,  and,  it  being  dark  almost  immediately 
after  dinner,  I  have  literally  but  one  hour,  from  10  to  11,  to 
read  or  write  anything  whatever.  I  have  made  this  year  no 
statement  and  have  prepared  myself  for  no  business  in  Congress. 
As  to  Congress,  we  stand  on  higher  ground  than  during  last  ses- 
sion, and  can  feel  that  a  change  of  public  opinion  in  the  people 
and  of  confidence  in  the  Executive  party  has  taken  place.  .  .  . 

25th  January,  1799. 

...  I  have  this  day,  upon  mature  consideration,  taken  the 
contract  for  arms  in  my  own  name  (this  last  was  necessary,  as  the 
application  had  been  made  and  reported  upon  by  the  quarter- 
master-general of  Pennsylvania  in  my  name),  and  have  only  got 
inserted  as  a  proviso  that  I  might  deliver  the  arms  either  in  the 
western  country  or  in  Philadelphia,  so  that  if  any  unforeseen 
accident  should  prevent  a  completion  of  the  contract  at  home 
I  might  be  enabled  to  transfer  it  to  some  one  person  here,  and 
not  run  the  risk  to  which  I  had  alluded  in  my  gloomy  letter  to 

you.  .  .  . 

1st  February,  1799. 

...  I  have  very  much  recovered  my  spirits,  and  feel  ready  to 
continue  my  exertions  to  extricate  ourselves.  I  think  we  have 
well-grounded  hopes  to  do  it  within  a  reasonable  time,  and  your 


1799.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  227 

last  letter  on  the  success  of  the  last  blast,  although  it  does  not 
dazzle  me,  induces  me  to  believe  that  we  may  not  finally  be  losers 
by  those  glass-works  which  have  caused  me  so  much  anxiety  and 
have  so  much  contributed  to  involving  us  in  our  difficulties. 
You  ask,  "  Who  is  Curtius  ?"  Poor  fellow  !  I  am  afraid  by  this 
time  I  can  only  inform  you  who  he  vxis.  For  by  the  last  post 
from  Petersburg,  in  Virginia,  we  hear  that  he  was  on  the  point 
of  death  by  a  pleurisy,  and  no  hopes  left  of  his  recovery.  His 
name  was  John  Thompson,  his  age  only  twenty-three,  too  young 
to  be  Giles's  successor  in  the  ensuing  Congress,  but  would  have 
undoubtedly  been  elected  in  the  following  one.  One  of  the 
brightest  geniuses  of  Virginia  and  the  United  States;  spoke 
with  as  much  eloquence  as  he  wrote,  and  remarkable  for  exten- 
sive information  and  immense  assiduity.  His  loss  will  be  as 
severe  to  the  Republican  interest  as  any  we  have  yet  felt.  I 
never  saw  him,  and  he  knew  me  only  from  report  and  from  my 
political  conduct.  .  .  . 

1st  March,  1799. 

...  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with  business  since  my  last  to 
you.  I  have  been  obliged  to  correct  for  the  press  two  speeches 
on  the  navy,  which  I  enclose ;  you  will  find,  however,  that  they 
are  not  written  by  me  but  by  Gales,  and  although  correct  in  point 
of  sense  are  not  so  as  to  style.  I  have  also  written  one  on  the 
subject  of  the  alien  bill,  and  in  addition  to  that  I  have  had  our 
goods  to  select  and  sundry  political  meetings  to  attend  on  the  sub- 
ject of  our  next  election  for  governor.  Thos.  McKean  is  to  be 
our  man,  and  James  Ross  the  other.  .  .  .  Do  you  want  a  dish 
of  politics  till  I  see  you  ?  The  President  nominated  Mr.  Mur- 
ray minister  to  France  with  powers  to  treat,  with  instructions 
that  he  should  not  go  from  Holland  to  Paris  until  he  should 
have  received  assurances  of  being  met  by  a  similar  envoy ;  and 
he  sent  along  with  it  a  letter  from  Talleyrand  to  the  secretary  of 
the  French  legation  at  the  Hague,  in  which,  referring  to  some 
former  conversations  of  the  secretary  with  Murray,  he  added 
that  they  would  lead  to  a  treaty,  and  that  the  French  govern- 
ment were  ready  to  admit  any  American  envoy  as  the  representa- 
tive of  a  free,  great,  and  independent  nation.  Murray,  I  guess, 
wanted  to  make  himself  a  greater  man  than  he  is  by  going  to 


228  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1799. 

France  and  treating,  and  wrote  privately,  it  is  said,  to  the  Presi- 
dent on  the  subject.  The  President,  without  consulting  any  of 
his  Secretaries,  made  the  nomination.  The  whole  party  were 
prodigiously  alarmed.  Porcupine  and  Fenno  abused  the  old 
gentleman.  The  nomination  instead  of  being  approved  was  in 
the  Senate  committed  to  a  select  committee.  They  then  attacked 
so  warmly  the  President  that  he  sent  a  new  nomination  of  Ells- 
worth, P.  Henry,  and  Murray,  and  none  of  them  to  go  until 
assurances  are  received  here  that  France  will  appoint  a  similar 
envoy.  Which  will  postpone  the  whole  business  six  months  at 
least.  .  .  . 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1799  were  passed  at  New  Geneva, 
and  when  Mr.  Gallatin  returned  to  Philadelphia  for  the  session 
of  1799-1800,  he  brought  his  wife  with  him,  and  they  kept 
house  in  Philadelphia  till  the  spring.  There  were  therefore  no 
domestic  letters  written  during  this  season,  and  his  repugnance 
to  writing  was  such  that  even  the  letters  he  received  were  chiefly 
filled  with  grumbling  at  his  silence.  There  seems  at  no  time 
before  1800  to  have  been  much  communication  by  writing  be- 
tween Mr.  Gallatin  and  the  other  Republicans.  One  or  two 
unimportant  letters  from  Edward  Livingston,  Matthew  L.  Davis, 
Walter  Jones,  or  Tench  Coxe,  are  all  that  remain  on  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  files.  The  long  series  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  notes  or  letters, 
most  carefully  preserved,  begin  only  in  March,  1801.  The  same 
is  true  of  Mr.  Madison's  and  Mr.  Monroe's.  Mr.  Gallatin  had 
no  large  constituency  of  highly-educated  people  to  correspond 
with  him ;  he  was  greatly  occupied  with  current  business ;  his 
own  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  the  seat  of  government,  and  its 
affairs  were  carried  on  directly  by  word  of  mouth,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, the  leader  of  the  party,  did  attempt  by  correspondence  and 
by  personal  influence  to  produce  some  sort  of  combination  in  its 
movements,  but  sharp  experience  taught  him  to  remain  as  quiet 
as  possible,  and  his  relations  were  chiefly  with  his  confidential 
Virginia  friends.  In  this  respect  the  Federalists  were  much 
better  organized  than  their  rivals. 

It  is  unfortunate,  too,  that  the  debates  of  the  Sixth  Congress, 
from  December,  1799,  to  March,  1801,  should  have  been  very 


1800.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  229 

poorly  reported ;  indeed,  hardly  reported  at  all.  Yet  the  winter 
of  1799-1800  was  so  much  less  important  than  those  which  pre- 
ceded and  followed  it,  that  the  loss  may  not  be  very  serious. 
The  death  of  General  Washington  a  few  days  after  Congress 
met  had  a  certain  momentary  effect  in  diverting  the  current  of 
public  thought.  The  attitude  of  the  President  occupied  the 
attention  of  his  own  party,  and  the  probability,  which  approached 
a  certainty,  of  peace  with  France,  paralyzed  the  armaments. 
Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  not  disposed  to  press  his  economies  too 
strongly.  "  I  was  averse,"  he  said  in  debate,  "  to  the  general 
system  of  hostility  adopted  by  this  country;  but  once  adopted,  it 
is  my  duty  to  support  it  until  negotiation  shall  have  restored  us 
to  our  former  situation  or  some  cogent  circumstances  shall  com- 
pel a  change.  At  present  I  think  it  proper  that  the  system  of 
hostility  and  resistance  should  continue,  and  I  would  vote  against 
any  motion  to  change  that  system.  At  the  same  time  I  am  of 
opinion  that  a  naval  establishment  is  too  expensive  for  this 
country,  but,  as  we  have  assumed  an  attitude  of  resistance,  it 
would  be  wrong  to  change  it  at  present."  His  opinion  was  that  a 
reduction  should  be  made  in  the  army  to  the  extent  of  $2,500,000, 
which  would,  he  thought,  still  leave  a  deficiency  of  an  equal 
amount  to  be  provided  for  by  a  loan. 

It  was  in  connection  with  this  motion  to  reduce  the  army  that 
Mr.  Harper  made  a  speech,  of  which  the  following  passage  is  a 
portion : 

.  .  .  "  Sir,  we  never  need  be,  and  I  am  persuaded  never  shall 
be,  taxed  as  the  English  are.  A  very  great  portion  of  their  per- 
manent burdens  arises  from  the  interest  of  a  debt  which  the  gov- 
ernment most  unwisely  suffered  to  accumulate  almost  a  century, 
without  one  serious  effort  or  systematic  plan  for  its  reduction. 
Her  present  minister,  at  the  commencement  of  his  administra- 
tion in  1783,  established  a  permanent  sinking  fund,  which  now 
produces  very  great  effects ;  he  also  introduced  a  maxim  of  in- 
finite importance  in  finance  which  he  has  steadily  adhered  to, 
that  whenever  a  new  loan  is  made  the  means  shall  be  provided 
not  only  of  paying  the  interest  but  of  effecting  a  gradual  ex- 
tinction of  the  principal.  Had  these  two  ideas  been  adopted  and 
practised  upon  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  which  we  have 


230  LIFE     OP    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1800. 

just  seen  close,  England  might  have  expended  as  much  money 
as  she  has  expended  and  not  owed  at  this  moment  a  shilling  of 
debt,  except  that  contracted  in  the  present  war.  These  ideas, 
profiting  by  the  example  of  England,  we  have  adopted  and 
are  now  practising  on.  We  have  provided  a  fund  which  is 
now  in  constant  operation  for  the  extinguishment  of  our  debt. 
This  fund  will  extinguish  the  foreign  debt  in  nine  years  from 
now,  and  the  six  per  cent.,  a  large  part  of  our  domestic  debt,  in 
eighteen  years.  I  trust  we  shall  adhere  to  this  plan,  and  when- 
ever we  are  compelled  by  the  exigency  of  our  aifairs  to  make  a 
loan,  by  providing  also  for  its  timely  extinguishment,  we  may 
always  avoid  an  inconvenient  or  burdensome  accumulation  of 
debt.  We  may  gather  all  the  roses  of  the  funding  system 
without  its  thorns/' 

This  was  the  theory  of  the  English  financiers,  of  William  Pitt 
and  his  scholars,  which  held  possession  of  the  English  exchequer 
throughout  the  French  war  and  was  only  exploded  in  1813  by 
a  pamphlet  written  by  a  Scotchman  named  Hamilton.1  Mr.  Gal- 
latin,  however,  was  never  its  dupe.  He  answered  Mr.  Harper 
on  the  spot ;  and  short  as  his  reply  was,  it  gave  in  perfectly  clear 
language  the  substance  of  all  that  fourteen  years  later  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  new  discovery  in  English  finance : 

.  .  .  "  I  know  but  one  way  that  a  nation  has  of  paying  her 
debts,  and  that  is  precisely  the  same  which  individuals  practise. 
*  Spend  less  than  you  receive/  and  you  may  then  apply  the  sur- 
plus of  your  receipts  to  the  discharge  of  your  debts.  But  if  you 
spend  more  than  you  receive,  you  may  have  recourse  to  sinking 
funds,  you  may  modify  them  as  you  please,  you  may  render 
your  accounts  extremely  complex,  you  may  give  a  scientific  ap- 
pearance to  additions  and  subtractions,  you  must  still  necessarily 
increase  your  debt.  If  you  spend  more  than  you  receive,  the 
difference  must  be  supplied  by  loans;  and  if  out  of  these  receipts 
you  have  set  a  sum  apart  to  pay  your  debts,  if  you  have  so  mort- 
gaged or  disposed  of  that  sum  that  you  cannot  apply  it  to  your 

1  Inquiry  concerning  the  Kise  and  Progress,  the  Kedemption  and  Present 
State,  and  the  Management  of  the  National  Debt  of  Great  Britain.  By 
Ptobert  Hamilton,  LL.D.  Edinburgh,  1813.  Reprinted  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1816,  and  by  Lord  Overstone  in  his  collection  of  Financial  Tracts,  1856-1859. 


1800.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  231 

useful  expenditure,  you  must  borrow  so  much  more  in  order  to 
meet  your  expenditure.  If  your  revenue  is  nine  millions  of 
dollars  and  your  expenditure  fourteen,  you  must  borrow,  you 
must  create  a  new  debt  of  five  millions.  But  if  two  millions  of 
that  revenue  are,  under  the  name  of  sinking  fund,  applicable  to 
the  payment  of  the  principal  of  an  old  debt,  and  pledged  for  it, 
then  the  portion  of  your  revenue  applicable  to  discharging  your 
current  expenditures  of  fourteen  millions  is  reduced  to  seven 
millions;  and  instead  of  borrowing  five  millions  you  must  borrow 
seven ;  you  create  a  new  debt  of  seven  millions,  and  you  pay  an 
old  debt  of  two.  It  is  still  the  same  increase  of  five  millions  of 
debt.  .  The  only  difference  that  is  produced  arises  from  the  rela- 
tive price  you  give  for  the  old  debt  and  rate  of  interest  you  pay 
for  the  new.  At  present  we  pay  yearly  a  part  of  a  domestic 
debt  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  of  a  foreign  debt  bearing 
four  or  five  per  cent,  interest ;  and  we  may  pay  both  of  them  at 
par.  At  the  same  time  we  are  obliged  to  borrow  at  the  rate  of 
eight  per  cent.  At  present,  therefore,  that  nominal  sinking  fund 
increases  our  debt,  or  at  least  the  annual  interest  payable  on  our 
debt."  .  .  . 

The  two  speeches  made  by  Mr.  Harper  and  Mr.  Gallatin  on 
this  occasion,  the  10th  January,  1800,  were  very  able,  and  are 
even  now  interesting  reading ;  but  they  find  their  proper  place 
in  the  Annals  of  Congress,  and  the  question  of  the  reduction  of 
the  army  was  to  be  settled  by  other  events.  A  matter  of  a  very 
different  nature  absorbed  the  attention  of  Congress  during  the 
months  of  February  and  March.  This  was  the  once  famous 
case  of  Jonathan  Robbins,  a  British  sailor  claiming  to  be  an 
American  citizen,  who,  having  committed  a  murder  on  board 
the  British  ship-of-war  Hermione,  on  the  high  seas,  had  escaped 
to  Charleston,  and  under  the  27th  article  of  the  British  treaty 
had  been  delivered  up  by  the  United  States  government.  At 
that  time  extradition  was  a  novelty  in  our  international  relations. 
The  President  was  violently  attacked  for  the  surrender,  and  a 
long  debate  ensued  in  Congress.  Mr.  Gallatin  spoke  at  con- 
siderable length,  but  his  speech  is  not  reported,  and  although 
voluminous  notes,  made  by  him  in  preparing  it,  are  among  his 
papers,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  portion  of  these  notes  was 


232  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LATIN.  1800. 

actually  used  in  the  speech.  The  triumphs  of  the  contest,  how- 
ever, did  not  fall  to  him  or  to  his  associates,  but  to  John 
Marshall,  who  followed  him,  and  who,  in  a  speech  that  still 
stands  without  a  parallel  in  our  Congressional  debates,  replied 
to  him  and  to  them.  There  is  a  tradition  in  Virginia  that  after 
Marshall  concluded  his  speech,  the  Republican  members  pressed 
round  Gallatin,  urging  with  great  earnestness  that  it  should  be 
answered  at  once,  and  that  Gallatin  replied  in  his  foreign  accent, 
"  Gentlemen,  answer  it  yourselves ;  for  my  part  I  think  it  un- 
answerable," laying  the  stress  on  the  antepenultimate  syllable. 
The  story  is  probably  true.  At  all  events,  Mr.  Gallatin  made 
no  answer,  and  Mr.  Marshall's  argument  settled  the  dispute  by 
an  overwhelming  vote. 

But  the  coming  Presidential  election,  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting in  our  history,  now  cast  its  shadow  in  advance  over  the 
whole  political  field.  The  two  parties  were  so  equally  divided 
that  the  vote  of  New  York  City  would  probably  decide  the 
result,  and  for  this  reason  the  city  election  of  May,  1800,  was 
the  turning-point  of  American  political  history  in  that  gener- 
ation. There  the  two  party  champions,  Hamilton  and  Burr, 
were  pitted  against  each  other.  Commodore  Nicholson  was 
hotly  engaged,  and  Edward  Livingston,  Matthew  L.  Davis,  and 
the  other  Republican  politicians  of  New  York  became  persons 
of  uncommon  interest.  Mr.  Gallatin,  as  leader  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  Congress  and  as  closely  connected  by  marriage 
with  the  Republican  interests  of  New  York  City,  was  kept 
accurately  informed  of  every  step  in  the  political  campaign. 
He  himself  was  in  constant  communication  with  Matthew  L. 
Davis,  who  was  Burr's  most  active  friend  then  and  ever  after- 
wards. Davis's  letters  are  now  of  historical  importance,  and 
may  be  compared  with  the  narrative  in  his  subsequent  Life  of 
Burr: 

MATTHEW  L.  DAVIS   TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  March  29,  1800. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  yesterday  saw  a  family  letter  of  yours  devel- 
oping the  views  of  the  Federal  party ;  with  many  of  the  facts 
contained  in  that  letter  I  was  previously  acquainted,  but  I  was 


1800.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  233 

in  some  measure  at  a  loss  to  account  for  certain  proceedings  of 
the  supreme  Legislature;  this  letter  completely  unmasks  the 
party.  Your  opinion  respecting  the  importance  of  our  election 
for  members  of  Assembly  in  this  city  is  the  prevailing  opinion 
among  our  Republican  friends.  You  ask,  "What  are  your 
prospects?"  All  things  considered,  they  are  favorable.  We 
have  been  so  much  deceived  already  that  a  prudent  man  per- 
haps will  not  hazard  an  opinion  but  with  extreme  diffidence. 
At  the  request  of  Mr.  Nicholson,  I  shall  briefly  state  the  leading 
features  of  our  plan. 

You  are  already  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  which  so 
much  operated  against  us  at  the  last  election :  the  tale  of  the 
ship  Ocean,  Captain  Kemp ;  the  Manhattan  Company ;  the  con- 
templated French  invasion;  the  youth  of  many  of  our  candi- 
dates, &c.,  &c.  These  things,  united  with  bank  influence  and 
bank  jealousy,  had  a  most  astonishing  effect.  The  bank  influence 
is  now  totally  destroyed ;  the  Manhattan  Company  will  in  all 
probability  operate  much  in  our  favor ;  and  it  is  hoped  the  crew 
of  the  Ocean  will  not  again  be  murdered;  but  this  is  not  all: 
a  variety  of  trifling  acts  passed  during  the  session  of  the  former 
Legislature  were  also  brought  forward  and  adapted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  party.  Menaces  from  the  Federal  party -had  also  a 
great  influence.  I  think  they  will  not  dare  to  use  them  at  the 
approaching  election. 

The  Federalists  have  had  a  meeting  and  determined  on  their 
Senators;  they  have  also  appointed  a  committee  to  nominate 
suitable  characters  for  the  Assembly.  Out  of  the  thirteen  that 
now  represent  the  city,  eleven  decline  standing  again.  They  are 
much  perplexed  to  find  men.  Mr.  Hamilton  is  very  busy,  more 
so  than  usual,  and  no  exertions  will  be  wanting  on  his  part. 
Fortunately,  Mr.  Hamilton  will  have  at  this  election  a  most 
powerful  opponent  in  Colonel  Burr.  This  gentleman  is  ex- 
tremely active ;  it  is  his  opinion  that  the  Republicans  had  better 
not  publish  a  ticket  or  call  a  meeting  until  the  Federalists  have 
completed  theirs.  Mr.  Burr  is  arranging  matters  in  such  a  way 
as  to  bring  into  operation  all  the  Republican  interest.  He  is 
not  to  be  on  our  nomination,  but  is  to  represent  one  of  the 
country  counties.  At  our  first  meeting  he  has  pledged  himself 


234  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1800. 

to  come  forward  and  address  the  people  in  firm  and  manly 
language  on  the  importance  of  the  election  and  the  momentous 
crisis  at  which  we  have  arrived.  This  he  has  never  done  at  any 
former  election,  and  I  anticipate  great  advantages  from  the  effect 
it  will  produce. 

In  addition  to  this,  he  has  taken  great  trouble  to  ascertain 
what  characters  will  be  most  likely  to  run  well,  and  by  his 
address  has  procured  the  assent  of  eleven  or  twelve  of  our  most 
influential  friends  to  stand  as  candidates.  Among  the  number 
are: 

George  Clinton  (late  governor).  Philip  J.  Arcularius. 

Henry  Rutgers  (colonel).  Thos.  Storm. 

Sam.  Osgood.  Ezek.  Robbins. 

Jno.  Broome.  Sam.  L.  Mitchill. 

Geo.  Warner,  Sen.  Jno.  Swartwout. 
Elias  Nexsen. 

On  the  whole,  I  believe  we  shall  offer  to  our  fellow-citizens  the 
most  formidable  list  ever  offered  them  by  any  party  in  point  of 
morality,  public  and  private  virtue,  local  and  general  influence, 
&c.,  &c.  From  this  ticket  and  the  exertions  that  indisputably 
will  be  made  we  have  a  right  to  expect  much,  and  I  trust 
we  shall  be  triumphant.  If  we  carry  this  election,  it  may  be 
ascribed  principally  to  Colonel  Burr's  management  and  perse- 
verance. Hamilton  fears  his  influence;  the -party  seem  in  a 
st#te  of  consternation,  while  ours  possess  more  than  usual  spirits. 
Such  are  our  prospects.  We  shall  open  the  campaign  under  the 
most  favorable  impressions,  and  headed  by  a  man  whose  intrigue 
and  management  is  most  astonishing,  and  who  is  more  dreaded 
by  his  enemies  than  any  other  character  in  our  [  ]. 

Excuse,  sir,  this  hasty  scrawl ;  I  have  no  time  to  copy.  .  .  . 

MATTHEW  L.  DAVIS   TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  April  15,  1800. 
Tuesday  night,  11  o'clock. 

DEAR  SIR, — Well  knowing  the  importance  of  the  approaching 
election  in  this  city,  and  consequently  the  anxiety  which  you  and 


1800.  THE    LEGISLATES  E.     1789-1801.  235 

every  friend  to  our  country  must  experience  on  the  subject,  I 
am  highly  gratified  in  affording  you  such  information  on  the 
occasion  as  will  be  interesting  and  pleasing.  The  eyes  of  our 
friends  and  of  our  enemies  are  turned  towards  us  ;  all  unite 
in  the  opinion  that  if  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  elect 
Republicans  they  will  most  assuredly  have  it  in  their  power  to 
appoint  Republican  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President. 
The  counties  of  Westchester  and  Orange  have  selected  the  most 
respectable  and  influential  advocates  for  the  rights  of  the  people 
their  respective  towns  afforded.  But  of  our  adversaries  in 
this  city.  This  evening,  agreeably  to  public  notice,  a  meeting 
was  held ;  the  assembly  was  small,  and  not  attended  by  either 
Colonels  Hamilton  or  Troup,  two  gentlemen  who  are  generally 
most  officious  on  these  occasions.  I  have  already  stated  to  you 
in  a  former  letter  that  jealousies  and  schisms  existed  among 
them.  This  fact  has  not  only  been  evinced  in  their  numerous 
caucuses,  but  they  have  been  doomed  to  the  mortification  of 
bringing  the  matter  this  night  before  the  public.  A  few  of 
their  most  active  men  had  determined  on  Philip  Brazier  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Brazier  is  a  man  of  very  little 
influence  and  very  limited  understanding;  he  is,  however,  a 
Republican,  but  composed  of  such  pliable  materials  as  will 
enable  his  leaders  to  mould  him  to  almost  any  form.  A  large 
majority  of  the  Federal  committee  were  opposed  to  him,  but 
his  adherents  possessing  stronger  lungs  and  being  vociferous  at 
one  of  their  caucuses,  he  was  carried. 

A  division  took  place  in  the  same  committee  on  another  sub- 
ject, viz.,  who  was  the  most  proper  candidate  for  Congress. 
Some  supported  Colonel  J.  Morton,  while  others  as  furiously 
supported  William  W.  Woolsey ;  both  gentlemen  consented  to 
stand ;  as  the  committee  could  not  agree  owing  to  their  divisions, 
it  was  resolved  to  report  both  candidates  to  the  meeting  and  let 
them  make  their  election.  Accordingly  the  two  names  were 
publicly  brought  forward  this  night,  and  after  much  confusion 
and  litigation  it  was  determined  by  a  majority  of  only  15  or 
20  that  Jacob  Morton  should  be  the  candidate  for  Congress, 
while  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Woolsey  bawled  aloud,  "Morton 
shall  not  be  the  man."  Next  came  the  Assembly  ticket.  It 


236  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1800. 

was  agreed  to  without  opposition,  excepting  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Brazier.  He  was  again  violently  opposed,  and  a  large  majority 
appeared  against  him;  yet  the  chairman  being  a  military 
commander  (Brigadier-General  Jared  Hughes),  he  decided  that 
it  was  carried  in  favor  of  Mr.  Brazier.  In  this  temper  the 
meeting  separated.  So  much  for  the  friends  of  good  order 
and  regular  government. 


Jacob  Morton,  Esq 


FEDERAL  TICKET. 

For  Congress. 


For  Assemblymen. 

Peter  Schermerhorn,  ship-chandler. 

Jno.  Bogert,  baker. 

Gabriel  Furman,  nothing.  The  man  who  whipped  the 
ferryman  in  Bridewell,  and  on  account  of  whom  Kettletas  was 
imprisoned. 

John  Croleus,  Jim.,  potter. 

Philip  Ten  Eyck,  bookseller,  late  clerk,  present  partner  of 
Hugh  Gaine. 

Isaac  Burr,  grocer. 

Samuel  Ward,  a  bankrupt  endeavoring  to  settle  his  affairs  by 
paying  000  in  the  pound. 

C.  D.  Golden,  assistant  attorney-general. 

James  Tyler,  shoemaker. 

Philip  Brazier,  lawyer. 

N.  Evertson,  lawyer. 

Isaac  Sebring,  grocer,  one  of  the  firm  Sebring  &  Van  Wyck. 

Abraham  Russel,  mason. 

A  private  meeting  of  our  friends  was  held  this  evening  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Brockholst  Livingston ;  about  forty  attended ;  we 
determined  on  calling  the  Republicans  together  on  Thursday 
evening  next,  and  for  that  purpose  sent  advertisements  to  the 
different  printers.  The  prevailing  opinion  was  that  we  should 
appoint  a  committee  at  that  meeting  to  withdraw  for  half  an 


1800  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  237 

hour,  form  a  ticket,  and  return  and  report,  so  that  on  Friday 
morning  we  shall  most  probably  publish.  Never  have  I  observed 
such  an  union  of  sentiment,  so  much  zeal,  and  so  general  a  deter- 
mination to  be  active.  Indeed,  on  presenting  the  Federal  ticket 
to  our  meeting  (for  we  had  friends  who  attended  theirs)  all  was 
joy  and  enthusiasm.  Our  ticket  is  complete,  and  stands  as 
follows : 

Congress. 
Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill. 

Assembly. 

Geo.  Clinton. 
Horatio  Gates. 
Henry  Rutgers. 
Thomas  Storm. 
Samuel  Osgood. 
Geo.  Warner,  Senior. 
John  Broome. 
Philip  J.  Arcularius. 
Ezekiel  Robins. 
Brockholst  Livingston. 
John  Swartwout. 
James  Hunt. 
Elias  Nexsen. 

The  late  hour  at  which  I  write  this  will  be  a  sufficient  apology 
for  the  scrawl.      .  . 


MATTHEW   L.  DAVIS   TO   GALLATIN. 

Thursday  night,  12  o'clock. 
May  1,  1800. 

REPUBLICANISM   TRIUMPHANT. 

DEAR  SIR, — It  affords  me  the  highest  gratification  to  assure 
you  of  the  complete  success  of  the  Republican  Assembly  ticket 
in  this  city.  This  day  the  election  closed,  and  several  of  the 
wards  have  been  canvassed  for  Congress ;  the  result  as  follows : 


238  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1800. 

For  Mitchill.  For  Morton. 

First  Ward,  majority,  ...  76 

Second  do.,  do.,  ...  258 
Third  do.,  not 'canvassed. 

Probable  majority,  .  .  .  250 

Fourth  do.,  canvassed  majority,  72  ... 
Fifth  do.,  not  canvassed. 

Probable  majority,  100  ... 

Sixth  do.,  canvassed  majority,  432  .  .  . 

604  584 

Seventh  do.         do.  do. 

For  Van  Cortlandt,  312. 

Thus,  sir,  it  is  probable  Mr.  Mitchill  is  elected  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  no  doubt  can  remain  but  our  whole  Assembly 
ticket  is  elected  by  a  majority  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  votes. 
To  Colonel  Burr  we  are  indebted  for  everything.  This  day  has 
he  remained  at  the  poll  of  the  Seventh  Ward  ten  hours  without 
intermission.  Pardon  this  hasty  scrawl;  I  have  not  ate  for 
fifteen  hours. 

With  the  highest  respect,  &c. 

P.S. — Since  writing  the  above  I  learn  from  undoubted 
authority  that  Mr.  Mitchill  is  elected  by  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred majority. 

MATTHEW  L.  DAVIS   TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YOKK,  May  5,  1800. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  already  informed  you  of  the  complete 
triumph  which  we  have  obtained  in  this  city, — a  triumph  which 
I  trust  will  have  some  influence  in  promoting  the  rights  of  the 
people  and  establishing  their  liberties  on  a  permanent  basis.  Our 
country  has  arrived  at  an  awful  crisis.  The  approaching  elec- 
tion for  President  and  Vice-President  will  decide  in  some  measure 
on  our  future  destiny.  The  result  will  clearly  evince  whether 
a  republican  form  of  government  is  worth  contending  for.  On 
this  account  the  eyes  of  all  America  have  been  turned  towards 


1800.  THE     LEGISLATUEE.     1789-1801.  239 

the  city  and  county  of  New  York.  The  management  and  in- 
dustry of  Colonel  Burr  has  effected  all  that  the  friends  of  civil 
liberty  could  possibly  desire. 

Having  accomplished  the  task  assigned  us,  we  in  return  feel 
a  degree  of  anxiety  as  to  the  characters  who  will  probably  be 
candidates  for  those  two  important  offices.  I  believe  it  is  pretty 
generally  understood  that  Mr.  Jefferson  is  contemplated  for 
President.  But  who  is  to  fill  the  Vice-President's  chair?  I 
should  be  highly  gratified  in  hearing  your  opinion  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  if  secrecy  is  necessary,  you  may  rely  on  it ;  and,  sir,  as  I 
have  no  personal  views,  you  will  readily  excuse  my  stating  the 
present  apparent  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  Republican  party  in 
this  city. 

It  is  generally  expected  that  the  "Vice-President  will  be  se- 
lected from  the  State  of  New  York.  Three  characters  only  can 
be  contemplated,  viz.,  Geo.  Clinton,  Chancellor  Livingston,  and 
Colonel  Burr. 

The  first  seems  averse  to  public  life,  and  is  desirous  of  retiring 
from  all  its  cares  and  toils.  It  was  therefore  with  great  diffi- 
culty he  was  persuaded  to  stand  as  candidate  for  the  State  Legis- 
lature. A  personal  interview  at  some  future  period  will  make 
you  better  acquainted  with  this  transaction.  In  addition  to  this, 
Mr.  Clinton  grows  old  and  infirm. 

To  Mr.  Livingston  there  are  objections  more  weighty.  The 
family  attachment  and  connection;  the  prejudices  which  exist 
not  only  in  this  State,  but  throughout  the  United  States,  against 
the  name ;  but,  above  all,  the  doubts  which  are  entertained  of 
his  firmness  and  decision  in  trying  periods.  You  are  well  ac- 
quainted with  certain  circumstances  that  occurred  on  the  im- 
portant question  of  carrying  the  British  treaty  into  effect.  On 
that  occasion  Mr.  L.  exhibited  a  timidity  that  never  can  be 
forgotten.  Indeed,  it  had  its  effect  when  he  was  a  candidate  for 
governor,  though  it  was  not  generally  known. 

Colonel  Burr  is  therefore  the  most  eligible  character,  and  on 
him  the  eyes  of  our  friends  in  this  State  are  fixed  as  if  by  sym- 
pathy for  that  office.  Whether  he  would  consent  to  stand  I  am 
totally  ignorant,  and  indeed  I  pretend  not  to  judge  of  the  policy 
farther  than  it  respects  this  State.  If  he  is  elected  to  the  office 


240  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALL  AT  IN.  1800. 

of  V.  P.,  it  would  awaken  so  much  of  the  zeal  and  pride  of  our 
friends  in  this  State  as  to  secure  us  a  Republican  governor  at 
the  next  election  (April,  1801).  If  he  is  not  nominated,  many 
of  us  will  experience  much  chagrin  and  disappointment.  If,  sir, 
you  do  not  consider  it  improper,  please  inform  me  by  post  the 
probable  arrangement  on  this  subject.  I  feel  very  anxious.  Any 
information  you  may  wish  relative  to  our  election  I  will  at  all 
times  cheerfully  communicate. 

With  sentiments  of  respect,  &c. 

GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIPE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  6th  May,  1800. 

...  The  New  York  election  has  engrossed  the  whole  at- 
tention of  all  of  us,  meaning  by  us  Congress  and  the  whole  city. 
Exultation  on  our  side  is  high;  the  other  party  are  in  low  spirits. 
Senate  could  not  do  any  business  on  Saturday  morning  when  the 
intelligence  was  received,  and  adjourned  before  twelve.  As  to 
the  probabilities  of  election,  they  stand  as  followeth : 

Adams.       Doubtful.       Jefferson. 

New  Hampshire   .         .         .         .6  ...  ... 

Massachusetts        .         .         .         .14  2  ... 

Connecticut 9  ...  ... 

Khode  Island        .         .         .         .4  ...  ... 

Vermont 4        '  .  .  .  ... 

New  York 12 

New  Jersey  .         .         .         .         ....  7  ... 

Pennsylvania ...  ... 

Delaware 3  ... 

Maryland 3  5  2 

Virginia ...  21 

Kentucky .  ...  4 

N.  Carolina 2  4  6 

S.  Carolina ...  8 

Tennessee ...  3 

Georgia         .         .         .         .....  ...  4 

42          21  60 


1800.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  241 

There  are  123  electors,  supposing  Pennsylvania  to  have  no 
vote.  Of  these,  62  make  a  majority.  We  count  60  for  Jeffer- 
son certain.  If  we  therefore  get  only  2  out  of  the  21  doubtful 
votes,  he  must  be  elected.  Probabilities  are  therefore  highly  in 
our  favor.  Last  Saturday  evening  the  Federal  members  of 
Congress  had  a  large  meeting,  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  there 
was  no  chance  of  carrying  Mr.  Adams,  but  that  he  must  still  be 
supported  ostensibly  in  order  to  carry  still  the  votes  in  New 
England,  but  that  the  only  chance  was  to  take  up  ostensibly 
as  Vice-President,  but  really  as  President,  a  man  from  South 
Carolina,  who,  being  carried  everywhere  except  in  his  own  State 
along  with  Adams,  and  getting  the  votes  of  his  own  State  with 
Jefferson,  would  then  be  elected.  And  for  that  purpose,  aban- 
doning Thomas  Pinckney,  they  have  selected  General  Charles 
Cotesworth  Pinckney.  I  think  they  will  succeed  neither  in  S. 
Carolina  in  getting  the  votes  for  him,  nor  in  New  England  in 
making  the  people  jilt  Adams.  "Who  is  to  be  our  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Clinton  or  Burr  ?  This  is  a  serious  question  which  I  am 
delegated  to  make,  and  to  which  I  must  have  an  answer  by 
Friday  next.  Remember  this  is  important,  and  I  have  engaged 
to  procure  correct  information  of  the  wishes  of  the  New  York 
Republicans.  .  .  . 


JAMES  NICHOLSON  TO   GALLATIN. 

May  6,  1800. 

DEAR  SIR, — My  situation  and  health  did  not  permit  my 
writing  you  during  our  election,  but  supposed  you  received  in- 
formation from  Mr.  Warner,  who  I  requested  would  take  the 
task  off  my  hands.  That  business  has  been  conducted  and 
brought  to  issue  in  so  miraculous  a  manner  that  I  cannot 
account  for  it  but  from  the  intervention  of  a  Supreme  Power 
and  our  friend  Burr  the  agent.  The  particulars  I  have  since 
the  election  understood,  and  which  justifies  my  suspicion.  His 
generalship,  perseverance,  industry,  and  execution  exceeds  all 
description,  so  that  I  think  I  can  say  he  deserves  anything  and 
everything  of  his  country ;  but  he  has  done  it  at  the  risk  of  his 
life.  This  I  will  explain  to  you  when  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you.  I  am  informed  he  is  coming  on  to  you.  Perhaps 

16 


242  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1800. 

he  will  be  the  bearer  of  this.  I  shall  conclude  by  recommend- 
ing him  as  a  general  far  superior  to  your  Hambletons  j1  as  much 
so  as  a  man  is  to  a  boy ;  and  I  have  but  little  doubt  this  State, 
through  his  means  and  planning,  will  be  as  Republican  in  the 
appointment  of  electors  as  the  State  of  Virginia. 

I  have  not  been  able  since  my  being  here  before  to-day  to 
visit  my  friend  and  neighbor,  Governor  Clinton.  I  understand 
his  health  and  spirits  are  both  returning.  His  name  at  the  head 
of  our  ticket  had  a  most  powerful  effect.  I  cannot  inform  you 
what  either  Burr's  or  his  expectations  are,  but  will  write  you 
more  particularly  about  the  governor  after  my  visit.  .  .  . 

JAMES  NICHOLSON  TO   GALLATIN. 

GREENWICH  LANE,  May  the  7th,  1800. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  conversed  with  the  two  gentlemen  men- 
tioned in  your  letter.  George  Clinton,  with  whom  I  first  spoke, 
declined.  His  age,  his  infirmities,  his  habits  and  attachment  to 
retired  life,  in  his  opinion,  exempt  him  from  active  life.  He 
(Governor  Clinton)  thinks  Colonel  Burr  is  the  most  suitable 
person  and  perhaps  the  only  man.  Such  is  also  the  opinion  of 
all  the  Republicans  in  this  quarter  that  I  have  conversed  with ; 
their  confidence  in  A.  B.  is  universal  and  unbounded.  Mr.  Burr, 
however,  appeared  averse  to  be  the  candidate.  He  seemed  to 
think  that  no  arrangement  could  be  made  which  would  be 
observed  to  the  southward ;  alluding,  as  I  understood,  to  the 
last  election,  in  which  he  was  certainly  ill  used  by  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina. 

I  believe  he  may  be  induced  to  stand  if  assurances  can  be 
given  that  the  Southern  States  will  act  fairly. 

Colonel  Burr  may  certainly  be  governor  of  this  State  at  the 
next  election  if  he  pleases,  and  a  number  of  his  friends  are  very 
unwilling  that  he  should  be  taken  off  for  Vice-President,  think- 
ing the  other  the  most  important  office.  Upon  the  whole,  how- 
ever, we  think  he  ought  to  be  the  man  for  V.  P.,  if  there  is  a 
moral  certainty  of  success.  But  his  name  must  not  be  played 
the  fool  with.  I  confidently  hope  you  will  be  able  to  smooth 

i.'flfe. 


1800.  THE    LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  243 

over  the  business  of  the  last  election,  and  if  Colonel  Burr  is 
properly  applied  to,  I  think  he  will  be  induced  to  stand.  At 
any  rate  we,  the  Republicans,  will  make  him. 

MRS.  GALLATIN    TO   HER   HUSBAND. 

7th  May,  1800. 

.  .  .  Papa  has  answered  your  question  about  the  candidate 
for  Vice-President.  Burr  says  he  has  no  confidence  in  the 
Virginians;  they  once  deceived  him,  and  they  are  not  to  be 
trusted.  .  .  . 

GKALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

12th  May,  1800. 

.  .  .  We  do  not  adjourn  to-day,  but  certainly  shall  to-morrow. 
.  .  .  We  had  last  night  a  very  large  meeting  of  Republicans, 
in  which  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  support  Burr  for  Vice- 
President.  .  .  . 

Between  the  adjournment  of  Congress  in  May  and  his  depart- 
ure for  the  western  country  in  July,  Mr.  Gallatin  prepared  and 
published  another  pamphlet  on  the  national  finances,  which  was 
his  contribution  to  the  canvass  for  the  Presidential  election  of  that 
year.  Mr.  Wolcott,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  dated  January  22,  1800, 
had  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  principal  of  the  debt  had  in- 
creased $1,516,338  since  the  establishment  of  the  government  in 
1789.  A  committee  of  the  House,  on  the  other  hand,  had  on 
May  8  reported  that  the  debt  had  been  diminished  $1,092,841 
during  the  same  period.  Mr.  Gallatin  entered  into  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  the  methods  by  which  these  results  were  obtained, 
and  then  proceeded  to  test  them  by  applying  his  own  method  of 
comparing  the  receipts  and  expenditures.  His  conclusion  was 
that  the  nominal  debt  had  been  increased  by  $9,462,264.  Two 
millions  of  this  increase,  however,  was  caused  by  unnecessary 
assumption  of  State  debts.  But  allowing  for  funds  actually  ac- 
quired by  government  and  susceptible  of  being  applied  to  reduc- 
tion of  debt,  the  nominal  increase  reduced  itself  to  $6,657,319. 


244  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATHST.  1801. 

And  since  all  these  results  were  more  or  less  nominal,  he  devoted 
the  larger  part  of  his  work  to  an  elaborate  and  searching  inves- 
tigation into  the  actual  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  past  ten 
years. 

The  summer  of  1800  was  again  passed  in  the  western  country  ; 
the  last  summer  which  Mr.  Gallatin  was  to  pass  there  for  more 
than  twenty  years.  With  the  autumn  came  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion, and  the  dreaded  complication  occurred  by  which  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son and  Mr.  Burr,  having  received  an  equal  number  of  electoral 
votes,  became  rival  candidates  for  the  choice  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  session  of  1800—1801  was  almost  wholly 
occupied  in  settling  this  dispute.  The  whole  Federalist  party 
insisted  upon  voting  for  Burr,  and,  although  not  able  to  elect 
him,  they  were  able  to  delay  for  several  days  the  election  of  Mr. 
Jefferson.  Mr.  Grallatin's  position  as  leader  of  the  Republicans 
in  the  House,  and  in  a  manner  responsible  for  the  selection  of 
Mr.  Burr  as  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  was  one  of  con- 
trolling influence  and  authority.  His  letters  to  his  wife  give  a 
clear  picture  of  the  scene  at  Washington  as  he  saw  it  from  day 
to  day,  but  there  are  one  or  two  points  on  which  some  further 
light  is  thrown  by  his  papers. 

He  rarely  expressed  his  opinions  of  the  men  with  whom  he 
acted.  He  never  expressed  any  opinion  about  Colonel  Burr. 
Yet  he  knew  that  the  Virginians  distrusted  Burr,  and  even  in 
his  own  family,  where  Colonel  Burr  was  -probably  warmly 
admired,  there  were  moments  when  their  faith  was  shaken. 
The  following  letter  is  an  example : 

MARIA   NICHOLSON   TO  MRS.  GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  February  5,  1801. 

...  As  I  know  you  are  interested  for  Theodosia  Burr,  I 
must  tell  you  that  Mr.  Alston  has  returned  from  Carolina,  it 
is  said,  to  be  married  to  her  this  month.  She  accompanied 
her  father  to  Albany,  where  the  Legislature  are  sitting ;  he  fol- 
lowed them  the  next  day.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  these  accounts. 
Report  does  not  speak  well  of  him ;  it  says  that  he  is  rich,  but 
he  is  a  great  dasher,  dissipated,  ill-tempered,  vain,  and  silly. 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  245 

I  know  that  he  is  ugly  and  of  unprepossessing  manners.  Can 
it  be  that  the  father  has  sacrificed  a  daughter  so  lovely  to  afflu- 
ence and  influential  connections  ?  They  say  that  it  was  Mr. 
A.  who  gained  him  the  8  votes  in  Carolina  at  the  present 
election,  and  that  he  is  not  yet  relieved  from  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments. Is  this  the  man,  think  ye  ?  Has  Mr.  G.  a  favor- 
able opinion  of  this  man  of  talents,  or  not  ?  He  loves  his  child. 
Is  he  so  devoted  to  the  customs  of  the  world  as  to  encourage 
such  a  match  ?  .  .  . 

Colonel  Burr  himself  overacted  his  part.  For  some  private 
reason  Mr,  Gallatin  was  unable  to  take  his  seat  when  Congress 
met,  and  it  was  not  till  January  12,  1801,  that  he  at  last  ap- 
peared in  Washington,  to  which  place  the  government  had  been 
transferred  during  the  summer.  The  contest,  which  was  to  decide 
the  election,  took  place  a  month  later.  Colonel  Burr  was  at  New 
York,  about  to  go  up  to  Albany  to  perform  his  duties  as  member 
of  the  Legislature,  He  felt  the  necessity  of  reassuring  the  minds 
of  his  friends  at  Washington,  and  he  did  so  from  time  to  time 
with  a  degree  of  off-hand  simplicity  very  suggestive  of  ulterior 
thoughts.  His  first  letter  to  Gallatin  is  as  follows  : 


AARON  BURR  TO   GALLATIN, 


YORK,  16th  January,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  am  heartily  glad  of  your  arrival  at  your  post. 
You  were  never  more  wanted,  for  it  was  absolutely  vacant. 

Livingston  will  tell  you  my  sentiments  on  the  proposed  usur- 
pation, and  indeed  of  all  the  other  occurrences  and  projects  of 
the  day. 

The  short  letter  of  business  which  I  wrote  you  may  be 
answered  to  Dallas  ;  anything  you  may  wish  to  communicate  to 
me  may  be  addressed  this  city.  Our  postmaster  and  that  at 
Albany  are  "  honorable  men." 

Yours,  A.  B. 

The  next  is  written  from  Albany,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Gallatin,  which  has  not  been  preserved  : 


246  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

AARON   BURR   TO   GALLATIN. 

ALBANY,  12th  February,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — My  letters  for  ten  days  past  had  assured  me  that 
all  was  settled  and  that  no  doubt  remained  but  that  J.  would 
have  10  or  11  votes  on  the  first  trial;  I  am,  therefore,  utterly 
surprised  by  the  contents  of  yours  of  the  3d.  In  case  of  usur- 
pation, by  law,  by  President  of  Senate  pro  tern.,  or  in  any  other 
way,  my  opinion  is  definitively  made  up,  and  it  is  known  to  S.  S. 
and  E.  L.  On  that  opinion  I  shall  act  in  defiance  of  all  timid, 
temporizing  projects. 

On  the  21st  I  shall  be  in  New  York,  and  in  Washington  the 
3d  March  at  the  utmost;  sooner  if  the  intelligence  which  I  may 
receive  at  New  York  shall  be  such  as  to  require  rny  earlier 
presence. 

Mr.  Montfort  was  strongly  recommended  to  me  by  General 
Gates  and  Colonel  Griffin.  At  their  request  I  undertook  to 
direct  his  studies  in  pursuit  of  the  law.  He  left  New  York 
suddenly  and  apparently  in  some  agitation,  without  assigning  to 
me  any  cause  and  without  disclosing  to  me  his  intentions  or 
views,  or  even  whither  he  was  going,  except  that  he  proposed  to 
pass  through  Washington.  Nor  had  I  any  reason  to  believe  that 
I  should  ever  see  him  again.  You  may  communicate  this  to  Mr. 
J.,  who  has  also  written  me  something  about  him. 

Yours,  A.  B. 

Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  last  years  of  his  life  came  upon  this  letter, 
and  endorsed  on  it,  in  a  hand  trembling  with  age,  the  following 
words  with  a  significant  mark  of  interrogation : 

"  had  thought  that  Jefferson  would  be  elected  on  first  ballot 
by  10  or  11  votes  (out  of  16)?" 

Burr's  last  letter  in  this  connection  was  written  from  Philadel- 
phia after  the  result  was  decided : 

BURR   TO   GALLATIN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  February  25,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — The  four  last  letters  of  your  very  amusing  his- 
tory of  balloting  met  me  at  New  York  on  Saturday  evening.  I 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  247 

thank  you  much  for  the  obliging  attention,  and  I  join  my 
hearty  congratulations  on  the  auspicious  events  of  the  17th. 
As  to  the  infamous  slanders  which  have  been  so  industriously 
circulated,  they  are  now  of  little  consequence,  and  those  who 
have  believed  them  will  doubtless  blush  at  their  own  weak- 
ness. 

The  Feds  boast  aloud  that  they  have  compromised  with  Jef- 
ferson, particularly  as  to  the  retaining  certain  persons  in  office. 
Without  the  assurance  contained  in  your  letter,  this  would  gain 
no  manner  of  credit  with  me.  Yet  in  spite  of  my  endeavors  it 
has  excited  some  anxiety  among  our  friends  in  New  York.  I 
hope  to  be  with  you  on  the  1st  or  2d  March. 

Adieu. 

These  letters  from  Mr.  Burr  suggest  much  more  than  they 
intentionally  express ;  for  if  they  show  that  Burr  still  felt  the 
weight  of  that  Virginia  mistrust  which  had  four  years  previously 
cost  him  his  place  as  next  in  succession  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  they 
show,  too,  that  his  confidence  in  Virginia  was  scarcely  greater 
than  when  in  May,  1800,  he  told  Commodore  Nicholson  that 
the  Virginians  had  once  deceived  him  and  were  not  to  be 
trusted.  There  was  a  sting  in  his  remark  about  the  anxiety 
among  his  friends  in  New  York.  In  spite  of  his  efforts  to 
the  contrary,  they  still  thought  that  Mr.  Jefferson  might  have 
made  a  bargain  with  the  Federalists.  The  letters  also  show 
that  Mr.  Gallatin  at  the  very  moment  denied  the  existence  of 
any  such  bargain ;  with  his  usual  disposition  to  conciliate,  he 
seems  to  have  coupled  together  the  charges  against  both  can- 
didates as  equal  slanders.  Whether  Mr.  Gallatin  was  admitted 
so  far  into  the  confidence  of  his  chief  as  to  know  all  that  was 
said  and  done  in  reference  to  this  election  in  February,  1801, 
is  a  question  that  may  remain  open ;  but  that  something  passed 
between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  General  Smith  which  was  regarded 
by  the  Federalists  as  a  bargain,  is  not  to  be  denied.  Fortu- 
nately, Mr.  Gallatin  lived  to  hear  all  the  discussions  which 
rose  long  afterwards  on  this  subject,  and  almost  the  last  letter 
he  ever  wrote  was  written  to  record  his  understanding  of  the 
matter : 


248  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

GALLATIN  TO  HENRY  A.  MUHLENBERG. 

NEW  YORK,  May  8,  1848. 

DEAR  SIR, — A  severe  cold,  which  rendered  me  incapable  of 
attending  to  any  business,  has  prevented  an  earlier  answer  to 
your  letter  of  the  12th  of  April. 

Although  I  was  at  the  time  probably  better  acquainted  with 
all  the  circumstances  attending  Mr.  Jefferson's  election  than  any 
other  person,  and  I  am  now  the  only  surviving  witness,  I  could 
not,  without  bestowing  more  time  than  I  can  spare,  give  a  satis- 
factory account  of  that  ancient  transaction.  A  few  observations 
must  suffice. 

The  only  cause  of  real  apprehension  was  that  Congress  should 
adjourn  without  making  a  decision,  but  without  usurping  any 
powers.  It  was  in  order  to  provide  against  that  contingency 
that  I  prepared  myself  a  plan  which  did  meet  with  the  appro- 
bation of  our  party.  No  appeal  whatever  to  physical  force  was 
contemplated,  nor  did  it  contain  a  single  particle  of  revolu- 
tionary spirit.  In  framing  this  plan  Mr.  Jefferson  had  not 
been  consulted,  but  it  was  communicated  to  him,  and  he  fully 
approved  it. 

But  it  was  threatened  by  some  persons  of  the  Federal  party 
to  provide  by  law  that,  if  no  election  should  take  place,  the 
executive  power  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  some  public 
officer.  This  was  considered  as  a  revolutionary  act  of  usurpa- 
tion, and  would,  I  believe,  have  been  put  down  by  force  if 
necessary.  But  there  was  not  the  slightest  intention  or  sugges- 
tion to  call  a  convention  to  reorganize  the  government  and  to 
amend  the  Constitution.  That  such  a  measure  floated  in  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Jefferson  is  clear  from  his  letters  of  February  15 
and  18, 1801,  to  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Madison.  He  may  have 
wished  for  such  measure,  or  thought  that  the  Federalists  might 
be  frightened  by  the  threat. 

Although  I  was  lodging  in  the  same  house  with  him,  he  never 
mentioned  it  to  me.  I  did  not  hear  it  even  suggested  by  any 
one.  That  Mr.  Jefferson  had  ever  thought  of  such  plan  was 
never  known  to  me  till  after  the  publication  of  his  correspond- 
ence, and  I  may  aver  that  under  no  circumstances  would  that 


1801.  THE    LEGISLATUEE.     1789-1801.  249 

plan  have  been  resorted  to  or  approved  by  the  Republican 
party.  Anti-federalism  had  long  been  dead,  and  the  Republi- 
cans were  the  most  sincere  and  zealous  supporters  of  the  Con- 
stitution. It  was  that  which  constituted  their  real  strength. 

I  always  thought  that  the  threatened  attempt  to  make  a 
President  by  law  was  impracticable.  I  do  not  believe  that,  if  a 
motion  had  been  made  to  that  effect,  there  would  have  been 
twenty  votes  for  it  in  the  House.  It  was  only  intended  to 
frighten  us,  but  it  produced  an  excitement  out-of-doors  in  which 
some  of  our  members  participated.  It  was  threatened  that  if 
any  man  should  be  thus  appointed  President  by  law  and  accept 
the  office,  he  would  instantaneously  be  put  to  death.  It  was 
rumored,  and  though  I  did  not  know  it  from  my  own  knowl- 
edge I  believe  it  was  true,  that  a  number  of  men  from  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  amounting,  it  was  said,  to  fifteen  hundred  (a 
number  undoubtedly  greatly  exaggerated),  had  determined  to 
repair  to  Washington  on  the  4th  of  March  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  to  death  the  usurping  pretended  President. 

It  was  under  those  circumstances  that  it  was  deemed  proper 
to  communicate  all  the  facts  to  Governor  McKean,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  him  the  propriety  of  having  in  readiness  a  body  of  militia, 
who  might,  if  necessary,  be  in  Washington  on  the  3d  of  March 
for  the  purpose  not  of  promoting,  but  of  preventing  civil  war 
and  the  shedding  of  a  single  drop  of  blood.  No  person  could 
be  better  trusted  on  such  a  delicate  subject  than  Governor 
McKean.  For  he  was  energetic,  patriotic,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  most  steady,  stern,  and  fearless  supporter  of  law  and  order. 
It  appears  from  your  communication  that  he  must  have  con- 
sulted General  Peter  Muhlenberg  on  that  subject.  But  subse- 
quent circumstances,  which  occurred  about  three  weeks  before 
the  4th  of  March,  rendered  it  altogether  unnecessary  to  act  upon 
the  subject. 

There  was  but  one  man  whom  I  can  positively  assert  to  have 
been  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  attempt  to  make  a  President  by 
law.  This  was  General  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  who,  as  you 
know,  was  a  desperate  character  and  held  in  no  public  estima- 
tion. I  fear  from  the  general  tenor  of  his  conduct  that  Mr. 
Griswold,  of  Connecticut,  in  other  respects  a  very  worthy  man, 


250  LIFE     OP    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1801. 

was  so  warm  and  infatuated  a  partisan  that  he  might  have  run 
the  risk  of  a  civil  war  rather  than  to  see  Mr.  Jefferson  elected. 
Some  weak  and  inconsiderate  members  of  the  House  might  have 
voted  for  the  measure,  but  I  could  not  designate  any  one. 

On  the  day  on  which  we  began  balloting  for  President  we 
knew  positively  that  Mr.  Baer,  of  Maryland,  was  determined 
to  cast  his  vote  for  Mr.  Jefferson  rather  than  that  there  should 
be  no  election ;  and  his  vote  was  sufficient  to  give  us  that  of 
Maryland  and  decide  the  election.  I  was  certain  from  personal 
intercourse  with  him  that  Mr.  Morris,  of  Vermont,  would  do 
the  same,  and  thus  give  us  also  the  vote  of  that  State.  There 
were  others  equally  prepared,  but  not  known  to  us  at  the  time. 
Still,  all  those  gentlemen,  unwilling  to  break  up  their  party, 
united  in  the  attempt,  by  repeatedly  voting  for  Mr.  Burr,  to 
frighten  or  induce  some  of  us  to  vote  for  Mr.  Burr  rather  than 
to  have  no  election.  This  balloting  was  continued  several  days 
for  another  reason.  The  attempt  was  made  to  extort  concessions 
and  promises  from  Mr.  Jefferson  as  the  conditions  on  which  he 
might  be  elected.  One  of  our  friends,  who  was  very  erroneously 
and  improperly  afraid  of  a  defection  on  the  part  of  some  of  our 
members,  undertook  to  act  as  an  intermediary,  and  confounding 
his  own  opinions  and  wishes  with  those  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  re- 
ported the  result  in  such  a  manner  as  gave  subsequently  occasion 
for  very  unfounded  surmises. 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  James  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  to 
say  that  although  he  was  one  of  the  principal  and  warmest 
leaders  of  the  Federal  party  and  had  a  personal  dislike  for  Mr. 
Jefferson,  it  was  he  who  took  the  lead  and  from  pure  patriotism 
directed  all  those  movements  of  the  sounder  and  wiser  part  of 
the  Federal  party  which  terminated  in  the  peaceable  election  of 
Mr.  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe  dated  February  15, 1801, 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  attempts  were  making  to  obtain 
promises  from  him,  proves  decisively  that  he  made  no  con- 
cessions whatever.  But  both  this  letter,  that  to  Mr^.  Madison 
of  the  18th  of  February,  and  ^ome  others  of  preceding  dates 
afford  an  instance  of  that  credulity,  so  common  to  warm  parti- 
sans, which  makes  them  ascribe  the  worst  motives,  and  occasion- 


1801.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  251 

ally  acts  of  which  they  are  altogether  guiltless,  to  their  opponents. 
There  was  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  suspecting  the  fidelity 
of  the  post.  .  .  . 

This  interesting  letter  also  suggests  something  more  than  ap- 
pears on  its  surface.  Evidently  Mr.  Gallatin  meant  to  intimate, 
with  as  much  distinctneas  as  was  decent,  his  opinion  that  it  was 
not  Mr.  Jefferson  who  guided  or  controlled  the  result  of  this 
election,  and  that  altogether  too  much  importance  was  attached 
to  what  Mr.  Jefferson  did  and  said.  The  election  belonged  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  where  not  Mr.  Jefferson  but  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  leader  of  the  party  and  directed  the  strategy.  The 
allusion  to  General  Samuel  Smith's  intervention  is  very  sig- 
nificant. Evidently  Mr.  Gallatin  considered  General  Smith  to 
have  been  guilty  of  what  was  little  better  than  an  impertinence 
in  having  intruded  between  the  House  and  Mr.  Jefferson  with 
"  erroneous  and  improper"  fears  of  the  action  of  men  for  whom 
Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  responsible.  This  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  the  Smiths  crossed  Gallatin's  path,  and  when  he  looked 
back  upon  it  at  the  end  of  fifty  years  it  seemed  an  omen. 

Mr.  Gallatin  considered  himself  to  be,  and  doubtless  was,  the 
effective  leader  in  this  struggle.  He  marshalled  the  forces ;  he 
fought  the  battle;  he  made  the  plans,  and  in  making  them  he  did 
not  even  consult  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  simply  obtained  his  assent 
to  what  had  already  received  the  assent  of  his  followers  in  the 
House.  These  plans,  alluded  to  in  the  Muhlenberg  letter,  are 
printed  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  Writings.1  They  were  framed  to  cover 
every  emergency.  If  the  Federalists,  acting  on  the  assumption 
of  a  vacancy  in  the  Presidential  office,  undertook  to  fill  that 
vacancy  by  law,  the  Eepublicans  were  to  refuse  recognition  of 
such  a  President  and  to  agree  on  a  uniform  mode  of  not  obeying 
the  orders  of  the  usurper,  and  of  discriminating  between  those 
and  the  laws  which  should  be  suffered  to  continue  in  operation. 
In  case  only  a  new  election  were  the  object  desired,  without 
usurpation^of  power  in  the  mean  while,  submission  was  on  the 
whole  preferable  to  resistance.  An  assumption  of  executive 

i  Vol.  i.  pp.  18-23. 


252  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

power  by  the  Republicans  in  any  mode  not  recognized  by  the 
Constitution  was  discouraged,  and  a  reliance  on  the  next  Con- 
gress was  preferred  in  any  case  short  of  actual  usurpation.  The 
idea  of  a  convention  to  reorganize  the  government  was  not  even 
suggested. 

The  crisis  lasted  until  the  17th  February,  when  the  Federalists 
gave  way  and  Mr.  Jefferson's  election  was  quietly  effected.  With 
this  event  Mr.  Gallatin's  career  in  Congress  closed. 


GALLATIN    TO   HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  15th  January,  1801. 

...  I  arrived  here  only  on  Saturday  last.  The  weather 
was  intensely  cold  the  Saturday  I  crossed  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, and  afterwards  I  was  detained  one  day  and  half  by  rain 
and  snow.  .  .  .  Our  local  situation  is  far  from  being  pleasant  or 
even  convenient.  Around  the  Capitol  are  seven  or  eight  board- 
ing-houses, one  tailor,  one  shoemaker,  one  printer,  a  washing- 
woman,  a  grocery  shop,  a  pamphlets  and  stationery  shop,  a  small 
dry-goods  shop,  and  an  oyster  house.  This  makes  the  whole  of 
the  Federal  city  as  connected  with  the  Capitol.  At  the  distance 
of  three-fourths  of  a  mile,  on  or  near  the  Eastern  Branch,  lie 
scattered  the  habitations  of  Mr.  Law  and  of  Mr.  Carroll,  the 
principal  proprietaries  of  the  ground,  half  a  dozen  houses,  a  very 
large  but  perfectly  empty  warehouse,  and  a  wharf  graced  by  not 
a  single  vessel.  And  this  makes  the  whole  intended  commercial 
part  of  the  city,  unless  we  include  in  it  what  is  called  the  Twenty 
Buildings,  being  so  many  unfinished  houses  commenced  by  Morris 
and  Nicholson,  and  perhaps  as  many  undertaken  by  Greenleaf, 
both  which  groups  lie,  at  the  distance  of  half-mile  from  each 
other,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Eastern  Branch  and  the  Potow- 
mack,  and  are  divided  by  a  large  swamp  from  the  Capitol  Hill 
and  the  little  village  connected  with  it.  Taking  a  contrary 
direction  from  the  Capitol  towards  the  President's  house,  the 
same  swamp  intervenes,  and  a  straight  causeway,  which  measures 
one  mile  and  half  and  seventeen  perches,  forms  the  communica- 
tion between  the  two  buildings.  A  small  stream,  about  the  size 
of  the  largest  of  the  two  runs  between  Clare's  and  our  house, 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  253 

and  decorated  with  the  pompous  appellation  of  "  Tyber,"  feeds 
without  draining  the  swamps,  and  along  that  causeway  (called 
the  Pennsylvania  Avenue),  between  the  Capitol  and  President's 
House,  not  a  single  house  intervenes  or  can  intervene  without 
devoting  its  wretched  tenant  to  perpetual  fevers.  From  the 
President's  House  to  Georgetown  the  distance  is  not  quite  a 
mile  and  a  half;  the  ground  is  high  and  level ;  the  public  offices 
and  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  good  houses  are  finished;  the 
President's  House  is  a  very  elegant  building,  and  this  part  of  the 
city  on  account  of  its  natural  situation,  of  its  vicinity  to  George- 
town, with  which  it  communicates  over  Rock  Creek  by  two 
bridges,  and  by  the  concourse  of  people  drawn  by  having  busi- 
ness with  the  public  offices,  will  improve  considerably  and  may 
within  a  short  time  form  a  town  equal  in  size  and  population  to 
Lancaster  or  Annapolis.  But  we  are  not  there ;  the  distance  is 
too  great  for  convenience  from  thence  to  the  Capitol ;  six  or  seven 
of  the  members  have  taken  lodgings  at  Georgetown,  three  near 
the  President's  House,  and  all  the  others  are  crowded  in  the 
eight  boarding-houses  near  the  Capitol.  I  am  at  Conrad  & 
McMunn's,  where  I  share  the  room  of  Mr.  Varnum,  and  pay  at 
the  rate,  I  think,  including  attendance,  wood,  candles,  and  liquors, 
of  15  dollars  per  week.  At  table,  I  believe,  we  are  from  twenty- 
four  to  thirty,  and,  was  it  not  for  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Bailey 
and  Mrs.  Brown,  would  look  like  a  refectory  of  monks.  The 
two  Nicholas,  Mr.  Langdon,  Mr.  Jeiferson,  General  Smith,  Mr. 
Baldwin,  &c.,  &c.,  make  part  of  our  mess.  The  company  is 
good  enough,  but  it  is  always  the  same,  and,  unless  in  my  own 
family,  I  had  rather  now  and  then  see  some  other  persons.  Our 
not  being  able  to  have  a  room  each  is  a  greater  inconvenience.  As 
to  our  fare,  we  have  hardly  any  vegetables,  the  people  being 
obliged  to  resort  to  Alexandria  for  supplies;  our  beef  is  not 
very  good ;  mutton  and  poultry  good ;  the  price  of  provisions 
and  wood  about  the  same  as  in  Philadelphia.  As  to  rents,  I 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  ascertain  anything  precise,  but,  upon 
the  whole,  living  must  be  somewhat  dearer  here  than  either  in 
Philadelphia  or  New  York.  As  to  public  news,  the  subject 
which  engrosses  almost  the  whole  attention  of  every  one  is  the 
equality  of  votes  between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Burr.  The 


254  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

most  desperate  of  the  Federalists  wish  to  take  advantage  of  this 
by  preventing  an  election  altogether,  which  they  may  do  either 
by  dividing  the  votes  of  the  States  where  they  have  majorities 
or  by  still  persevering  in  voting  for  Burr  whilst  we  should  per- 
severe in  voting  for  Jefferson ;  and  the  next  object  they  would 
then  propose  would  be  to  pass  a  law  by  which  they  would  vest 
the  Presidential  power  in  the  hands  of  some  man  of  their  party. 
I  believe  that  such  a  plan  if  adopted  would  be  considered  as  an 
act  of  usurpation,  and  would  accordingly  be  resisted  by  the 
people ;  and  I  think  that  partly  from  fear  and  partly  from  prin- 
ciple the  plan  will  not  be  adopted  by  a  majority.  But  a  more 
considerable  number  will  try  actually  to  make  Burr  President. 
He  has  sincerely  opposed  the  design,  and  will  go  any  lengths  to 
prevent  its  execution.  Hamilton,  the  Willing  and  Bingham 
connection,  almost  every  leading  Federalist  out  of  Congress  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  have  openly  declared  against  the  project 
and  recommend  an  acquiescence  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  election. 
Maryland,  which  if  decided  in  our  favor  would  at  once  make 
Mr.  J.  President  (for  we  have  eight  States  sure, — New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  and  Georgia),  is  afraid  about  the  fate  of  the  Federal 
city,  which  is  hated  by  every  member  of  Congress  without  ex- 
ception of  persons  or  parties ;  and  I  know  that  if  a  vote  was  to 
take  place  to-day  we  would  obtain  the  vote  of  that  State.  Even 
Bayard  from  Delaware  and  Morris  from  Vermont  (this  last  I 
suspect  under  the  influence  of  Gouv.  Morris)  are  inclined  the 
same  way.  The  vote  of  either  is  sufficient  to  decide  in  our  favor. 
And  from  all  those  circumstances  I  infer  that  there  will  be  an 
election,  and  that  in  favor  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  If  not,  there  will 
be  either  an  interregnum  until  the  new  Congress  shall  meet  and 
then  a  choice  made  in  favor  of  him  also,  or  in  case  of  usurpation 
by  the  present  Congress  (which  of  all  suppositions  is  the  most 
improbable),  either  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  if  that  usurpation 
shall  be  supported  by  New  England,  or  a  punishment  of  the 
usurpers  if  they  shall  not  be  supported  by  New  England.  In 
every  possible  case  I  think  we  have  nothing  to  fear.  The  next 
important  object  is  the  convention  with  France,  which  hangs  in 
the  Senate.  The  mercantile  interest,  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Ham- 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATURE.      1789-1801.  255 

ilton  are  in  favor  of  its  ratification.  Yet  I  think  it  rather  prob- 
able that  either  a  decision  will  be  postponed  or  that  it  shall  be 
clogged  by  the  rejection  or  modification  of  some  articles,  an  event 
which  might  endanger  the  whole.  I  understand  that  Great 
Britain  does  not  take  any  oifence  at  the  treaty  itself,  and  that 
being  the  case,  although  I  dislike  myself  several  parts  of  the  in- 
strument, I  see  no  sufficient  reason  why  we  should  not  agree  to 
it.  .  .  . 

22d  January,  1801. 

...  As  to  politics,  you  may  suppose  that  being  all  thrown 
together  in  a  few  boarding-houses,  without  hardly  any  other 
society  than  ourselves,  we  are  not  likely  to  be  either  very  mod- 
erate politicians  or  to  think  of  anything  but  politics.  A  few, 
indeed,  drink,  and  some  gamble,  but  the  majority  drink  naught 
but  politics,  and  by  not  mixing  with  men  of  different  or  more 
moderate  sentiments,  they  inflame  one  another.  On  that  ac- 
count, principally,  I  see  some  danger  in  the  fate  of  the  election 
which  I  had  not  before  contemplated.  I  do  not  know  precisely 
what  are  the  plans  of  the  New  England  and  other  violent  Fed- 
erals, nor,  indeed,  that  they  have  formed  any  final  plan ;  but  I 
am  certain  that  if  they  can  prevail  on  three  or  four  men  who 
hold  the  balance,  they  will  attempt  to  defeat  the  election  under 
pretence  of  voting  for  Burr.  At  present  it  is  certain  that  our 
friends  will  not  vote  for  him,  and  as  we  cannot  make  nine  States 
without  the  assistance  of  some  Federal,  it  is  as  certain  that,  if 
all  the  Federal  will  vote  for  him,  there  will  be  no  choice  of  the 
House.  Tn  that  case  what  will  be  the  plans  of  the  Federalists, 
having,  as  they  have,  a  majority  in  both  Houses  ?  Will  they 
usurp  at  once  the  Presidential  powers?  An  attempt  of  that 
kind  will  most  certainly  be  resisted.  Will  they  only  pass  a  law 
providing  for  a  new  election  ?  This  mode,  as  being  the  most 
plausible,  may,  perhaps,  be  the  one  they  will  adopt.  And  in 
that  case,  as  no  State  has  provided  for  an  election  in  such  cases ; 
as  the  concurrence  of  the  Legislature  of  any  one  State  will  be 
necessary  to  pass  a  law  providing  for  the  same;  as  in  the  five 
New  England  States,  Jersey,  and  Delaware  (which  give  49  Fed- 
eral votes),  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  are  Federal,  whilst 
in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina, 


256  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1801. 

where  we  have  a  majority,  the  State  Senates  are  against  us ;  the 
consequence  might  be  that  the  Senates  of  these  four  last  States 
refusing  to  act,  the  49  votes  of  New  England,  Jersey,  and  Dela- 
ware would  outweigh  the  44  votes  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee ;  and  they  would  thus,  by  in 
fact  disfranchising  four  States  and  annulling  the  last  election, 
perpetuate  themselves  in  power,  whilst  they  would  in  appearance 
violate  none  of  the  forms  of  our  Constitution.  If  they  shall 
act  so,  shall  we  submit  ?  And  if  we  do  not  submit,  in  what 
manner  shall  we  act  ourselves  ?  These  are  important  questions, 
and  not  yet  finally  decided.  At  all  events,  no  appeal  shall  be 
made  to  the  physical  strength  of  the  country  except  in  self- 
defence,  and  as  that  strength  is  with  us,  I  am  not  afraid  of  an 
attack  on  their  part.  Thus  I  am  confident  that  we  will  have  no 
civil  war,  and  the  love  of  union  and  order  is  so  general  that  I 
hope  that  in  every  possible  case  we  shall  preserve  both.  My 
opinion  is,  however,  decided  that  we  must  consider  the  election 
as  completed,  and  under  no  possible  circumstance  consent  to  a 
new  election.  In  that  I  may  be  overruled  by  our  friends,  but  I 
think  it  a  miserable  policy,  and  calculated  to  break  for  a  length 
of  time  the  Republican  spirit,  should  we  at  present  yield  one 
inch  of  ground  to  the  Federal  faction,  when  we  are  supported 
by  the  Constitution  and  by  the  people.  I  will  every  mail  let 
you  know  the  prospect.  At  present  it  is  still  considered  as 
probable  that  Maryland  will  unite  in  the  vote  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Jefferson.  .  .  . 

29th  January,  1801. 

.  .  .  Here  the  approaching  llth  February  engrosses  all  our 
attention.  And  opinions  vary  and  fluctuate  so  much  every  day, 
that  I  will  confine  myself  to  a  few  general  observations  in  com- 
municating to  you  what  I  know  you  must  be  very  anxious  of 
understanding  as  fully  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit.  If 
a  choice  is  not  made  by  the  House,  either  the  next  House  must 
choose  between  Jefferson  and  Burr  or  a  new  election  must  take 
place.  Which  mode  would  be  most  constitutional  is  doubtful 
with  many.  I  think  the  first  to  be  the  only  truly  constitutional 
way  of  acting.  But  whatever  mode  be  adopted,  we  are  sure  of 
success,  provided  the  election  be  fair.  The  next  House  will  give 


1801.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  257 

us  a  majority  of  nine  States,  and,  counting  members  individually, 
of  more  than  twenty  votes.  That  House  must  be  in  session  at 
all  events  before  a  new  election  can  be  completed  in  order  to 
count  the  votes.  That  House  may  therefore  adopt  either  the 
mode  I  think  right,  by  choosing  between  J.  and  B.,  or  acquiesce 
in  a  new  election  if  it  has  been  fair  (that  is  to  say,  if  the  Senates 
of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina 
shall  have  permitted  those  States  to  vote).  But  if  through 
trick  or  obstinacy  the  election  has  been  unfair,  that  House  will 
not  acquiesce.  That  being  an  indubitable  position,  what  interest 
can  the  Federalists  have  in  defeating  an  election  ?  None,  unless 
they  mean  to  usurp  government.  And  if  they  do  make  the 
attempt,  is  it  possible  they  would  run  the  immense  risk  attending 
the  attempt  merely  for  the  sake  of  keeping  government  in  their 
hands  till  December  next,  with  the  certainty  of  losing  it  then 
and  the  probability  of  being  punished,  at  all  events  annihilated 
as  a  party  on  account  of  the  attempt  ?  Hence  I  conclude  that 
if  they  are  in  earnest  they  must  mean  something  more  than  a 
temporary  usurpation.  The  intention  of  the  desperate  leaders 
must  be  absolute  usurpation  and  the  overthrow  of  our  Constitu- 
tion. But  although  this  may  be  the  object  of  a  few  individuals 
actuated  by  pride  and  ambition,  it  cannot  be  the  true  object  of 
a  majority  of  the  Federal  men.  Many  may  not  indeed  see  and 
calculate  all  the  consequences  of  their  defeating  an  election. 
But  I  am  confident  that  the  true  motive  of  action,  which  may 
possibly  induce  at  first  a  sufficient  number  to  vote  against  Mr. 
J.,  is  an  opinion  of  our  imbecility  and  a  supposition  that  we  will 
yield  ourselves  rather  than  to  run  any  risk.  This  is  the  only 
rational  way  to  account  for  their  conduct.  It  is  yet  extremely 
doubtful  whether  we  will  not  on  the  first  ballot  carry  Mr.  J. ; 
but  if  we  do  not,  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  by  persevering 
we  will  compel  a  sufficient  number  of  Federals  to  yield.  Should, 
however,  the  election  be  defeated,  I  apprehend  no  very  danger- 
ous consequences.  Usurpation  will  undoubtedly  be  resisted  in 
a  legal  and  constitutional  way  by  several  of  the  largest  and  most 
populous  States,  and  I  much  doubt  whether  they  would  find  any 
man  bold  enough  to  place  himself  in  front  as  an  usurper.  If, 
what  I  think  much  more  probable,  there  is  no  usurpation,  we 

17 


258  LIFE     OF     ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1801. 

would  acquiesce  in  a  kind  of  interregnum  until  the  meeting  of 
next  Congress,  which  in  that  case  would  probably  be  hastened. 
I  conclude  on  that  subject  by  observing  that  there  is  no  appear- 
ance of  any  of  our  friends  seceding.  If  any  do  secede,  B.  may 
be  elected ;  if  not,  I  think  it  is  one  hundred  to  one  that  Jef. 
will.  .  .  .  Lucius  H.  Stockton  (the  indicter  of  Baldwin)  was 
nominated  Secretary  of  War.  The  Senate  suspended  the  ap- 
pointment and  gave  him  time  to  decline.  His  brother,  your 
friend's  husband,  writes  on  this  occasion  that  although  it  might 
be  well  for  Mr.  A.  to  reward  those  who  had  written  in  his  favor, 
yet  he  should  take  care  not  to  offer  them  appointments  which 
must  render  them  ridiculous.  And  to-day  Griswold,  of  our 
House,  has  been  nominated  for  the  same  Department.  He  has 
too  much  sense  not  to  be  mortified  at  being  rendered  ridiculous 
by  that  nomination,  and  I  am  sure  will  not  accept.  Mr.  Mar- 
shall is  Chief  Justice.  His  Department  (Secretary  of  State)  is 
not  yet  filled,  so  that  Dexter  is  pro  temp.  Secretary  in  chief  of 
all  the  Departments.  He  is  rather  unfortunate ;  the  auditor's 
office  and  all  the  papers  therein  were  burnt.  Malice  ascribes 
the  fire  to  design,  and  party  will  believe  it.  But  I  do  not. 
What  renders  the  thing  unlucky  is  that  the  very  books  which 
had  been,  through  the  infidelity  of  a  clerk,  in  Duane's  hands 
are  burnt.  Hence  it  will  be  extremely  difficult  to  remove  the 
suspicion  from  the  minds  of  many.  The  French  convention,  as 
I  had  foretold,  has  been  rejected  by  the  Senate.  But  they  have 
contrived  to  agree  that  it  was  not  a  final  determination,  and  they 
are  now  negotiating  amongst  themselves  on  the  subject.  The 
merchants  are  in  favor  of  the  convention ;  the  Senators  who 
voted  against  it  are  rather  afraid  of  the  unpopularity  of  the 
measure,  and  some  of  them  are  willing  to  come  in  and  approve, 
provided  they  may  have  a  decent  cover  for  changing  their  vote. 
So  that  it  is  not  improbable  that  on  the  next  trial  the  convention 
may  be  adopted  with  some  immaterial  modifications ;  but  it  is 
far  from  certain. 

I  believe  I  have  given  you  every  political  and  private  infor- 
mation that  I  can  trust  to  a  letter.  Much  will  remain  for  me  to 
tell  when  we  meet.  Yet,  as  the  newspapers  have  made  me  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  hereafter,  that  is  to  say,  I  may  tell  you 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  259 

that  I  have  received  no  hint  of  that  kind  from  Mr.  J.  Indeed, 
I  do  not  suppose  that  it  would  be  proper  in  him  to  say  anything 
on  the  subject  of  appointments  until  he  knows  whether  he  shall 
be  elected.  The  Republicans  may  wish  me  to  be  appointed,  but 
there  exist  two  strong  doubts  in  my  mind  on  the  subject,  1st, 
whether  the  Senate  would  confirm ;  2d,  what  you  have  already 
heard  me  express,  whether  my  abilities  are  equal  to  the  office.  .  .  . 

5th  February,  1801. 

.  .  .  Indeed,  I  feel  more  forcibly  than  ever  I  did  before  that 
you  cannot,  that  you  must  not  be  left  alone  in  that  country.  The 
habits  of  the  people  and  state  of  society  create  difficulties  and 
inconveniences  which  you  cannot  overcome.  And  it  is  to  similar 
circumstances  that  we  are  to  ascribe  the  establishment  and  intro- 
duction of  slavery  in  the  Middle  States.  Under  my  and  your 
peculiar  situation  and  place  of  abode,  it  has  required  no  uncom- 
mon exertion  to  resist  the  temptation.  And  should  imperious 
circumstances  compel  a  longer  residence  in  the  western  country 
than  we  now  contemplate,  some  method  must  be  taken  to  obviate 
the  inconvenience.  At  all  events,  if  through  any  means  I  can 
subsist  and  be  independent  on  this  side  the  mountains  I  will 
attempt  it,  for  from  experience  I  am  fully  convinced  that  you 
cannot  live  happy  where  you  are.  ...  I  have  had  a  cold  since 
my  last,  and  nursed  myself;  have  been  out  but  once  to  dine  at 
Georgetown  with  some  of  our.  members  who  lodge  there.  I 
mean  to  go  and  stay  there  all  night  this  evening  in  order  to  have 
a  more  full  conversation  with  Dallas  in  relation  to  myself  and 
future  plans  than  can  be  done  by  letter. 

The  Federal  party  in  Senate  got  frightened  at  their  having 
rejected  the  French  treaty,  which  is  certainly  extremely  popular. 
And  they  offered  to  recant  provided  they  were  afforded  a  decent 
cover.  To  this  our  friends  agreed,  and  the  treaty  was  two  days 
ago  ratified,  with  the  exception  of  the  2d  Article  (which  was  a 
mere  matter  of  form  and  introduced  at  the  request  of  our  own 
commissioners),  and  a  limitation  for  eight  years.  From  thence  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  the  party  will  also  want  perseverance 
in  the  execution  of  the  other  plan,  that  of  defeating  the  election. 
A  variety  of  circumstances  induce  me  to  believe  that  either  the 


260  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1801. 

plan  is  abandoned  or  that  they  know  that  it  will  fail.  Bayard 
has  proposed,  and  a  committee  of  sixteen  members,  one  from 
each  State,  have  agreed,  that  on  the  llth  February,  the  day  fixed 
by  law  for  counting  the  votes,  if  it  shall  appear,  as  is  expected, 
that  the  two  persons  highest  in  vote  (Jef.  and  Burr)  have  an 
equality,  the  House  shall  immediately  proceed  (in  their  own 
chamber)  to  choose  by  ballot  the  President,  and  shall  not  ad- 
journ until  a  choice  is  made.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  House 
will  agree ;  but  if  they  do,  and  the  two  parties  are  obstinate  in 
adhering,  the  one  to  B.,  the  other  to  Jef.,  we  will  have  for  the 
last  three  weeks  of  the  session  to  sleep  on  blankets  in  the  Cap- 
itol, and  also  to  eat  and  drink  there.  For  the  idea  is  that  of  a 
permanent  sitting,  without  doing  any  other  business  whatever 
until  we  have  chosen.  But  this  evidently  shows  that  they  mean 
to  choose.  For  if  no  choice  was  made,  they  could  neither  pass 
a  law  for  a  new  election  or  usurpation,  nor  indeed  for  any  object 
whatever;  and  there  is  as  yet  no  appropriation  law  passed; 
which  would  leave  us  on  3d  March  without  any  government. 
I  believe  I  told  you  before  that  we  had  expectations  of  Bayard 
and  Morris  joining  us  on  this  question.  Mr.  Adams  has  very 
improperly  called  Senate  for  the  4th  of  March  next,  at  which 
time  the  three  new  Republican  Senators  from  Kentucky,  Georgia, 
and  South  Carolina  cannot,  from  their  distance,  be  here;  the  new 
Republican  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  instead  of  Bingham  will 
not  be  appointed,  our  thirteen  Senators  refusing  to  agree ;  the 
same  with  a  new  Senator  from  Maryland;  Charles  Pinckney 
has  also  dislocated  his  shoulder.  The  fact  is  that  in  December 
next  the  Senate  will  be  16  to  16,  or  at  worst  15  to  17.  And  on 
4th  March  only  8  or  9  Republicans  against  17  or  18.  The 
secretaries  may  and  probably  will  all  resign  on  that  day,  and 
the  Senate  being  in  session,  that  will  compel  Mr.  J.  to  appoint 
immediately  and  submit  his  appointments  to  that  Rump  Senate. 
The  object  is  undoubtedly  to  embarrass  him  by  crippling  his 
intended  Administration.  .  .  . 

12th  February,  1801. 

.  .  .  Yesterday,  on  counting  the  votes,  Burr  and  Jefferson  had 
73  votes  each,  as  was  already  known.  At  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  we  returned  to  our  chamber  and  kept  balloting  till 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATUEE.      1789-1801.  261 

eight  o'clock  this  morning  without  making  a  choice.  We  bal- 
loted 27  times,  and  on  each  ballot  the  result  was  the  same;  eight 
States  for  Jefferson,  six  for  Burr,  two  divided.  At  eight  o'clock 
we  agreed  (without  adjourning  the  House)  to  suspend  the  further 
balloting  till  twelve  o'clock,  and  during  that  time  I  went  to  sleep. 
We  have  just  returned  and  balloted  once  more,  when,  the  result 
being  still  the  same,  we  have  just  now  agreed  to  suspend  the 
balloting  till  to-morrow  at  eleven  o'clock.  Still  the  House  is 
not  adjourned,  and  we  consider  this  as  a  permanent  sitting;  but 
by  mutual  agreement  it  is  a  virtual  adjournment,  as  we  shall  not 
meet  nor  do  any  business  till  to-morrow.  I  must  write  to  Phila- 
delphia, Lancaster,  and  New  York,  to  keep  them  acquainted  of 
our  situation,  and  I  want  to  return  to  bed,  which  must  be  my 
apology,  with  my  love,  for  this  short  letter.  Our  hopes  of  a 
change  on  their  part  are  exclusively  with  Maryland,  but  every- 
thing on  that  subject  is  conjecture.  .  .  . 


GALLATIN  TO  JAMES  NICHOLSON,  NEW  YORK. 

CITY  OP  WASHINGTON,  14th  February,  1801. 
3  o'clock,  afternoon. 

DEAR  SIB, — Nothing  new  to-day;  3  ballots,  making  in  all 
33,  result  the  same.  We  have  postponed  balloting  till  Monday, 
twelve  o'clock. 

That  day  will,  I  think,  show  something  more  decisive,  either 
yielding  on  their  part  or  an  attempt  to  put  an  end  to  balloting 
in  order  to  legislate.  We  will  be  ready  at  all  points,  and  rest 
assured  that  we  will  not  yield.  It  is  the  most  impudent  thing 
that  they,  with  only  six  States  and  two  half  States,  represented 
on  this  floor  only  by  39  members,  should  expect  that  a  majority 
of  eight  States  and  two  half  States,  represented  on  this  floor  by 
67  members,  should  give  up  to  the  minority,  and  that,  too, 
against  the  decided  opinion  of  an  immense  majority  of  the 
people. 

Federal  instructions  are  pouring  from  this  vicinity  on  Thomas, 
the  representative  of  this  district,  to  induce  him  to  make  an 
election  by  voting  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  I  do  not  know  what 
effect  they  may  have. 


262  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1801. 

Mr.  Joseph  Nicholson  has  been  very  unwell,  but  would  not 
desert  his  post.  A  bed  was  fixed  for  him  in  the  committee-room, 
and  he  lay  there  and  voted  all  night  the  llth  to  12th.  He  has 
also  attended  every  day  since,  and  has  recovered  amazingly,  not- 
withstanding the  risk  he  ran  in  exposing  himself  to  cold. 


GALLATIN  TO   JAMES   NICHOLSON,  NEW  YOKK. 

CITY  or  WASHINGTON,  16th  February,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  yet  relieve  you  from 
the  present  general  anxiety.  We  have  balloted  for  the  34th  time 
this  morning,  and  the  result  is  still  the  same. 

Mr.  Bayard  had  positively  declared  on  Saturday  to  some  of 
his  own  party  that  he  would  this  day  put  an  end  to  the  business 
by  voting  for  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  has  acted  otherwise.  But  it 
is  supposed  that  the  cause  of  the  delay  is  an  attempt  on  his  part 
and  some  others  to  prevail  on  the  whole  Federal  party  to  come 
over. 

We  have  agreed  to  suspend  the  ballot  till  to-morrow,  twelve 
o'clock. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

17th  February,  1801 

.  .  .  We  have  this  day,  after  36  ballots,  chosen  Mr.  Jefferson 
President.  Morris,  of  Vermont,  withdrew;,  Craik,  Dennis, 
Thomas,  and  Baer  put  in  blank  votes ;  this  gives  us  ten  States. 
The  four  New  England  States  voted  to  the  last  for  Mr.  Burr. 
South  Carolina  and  Delaware  put  in  blank  ballots  in  the  general 
ballot-box ;  that  is  to  say,  they  did  not  vote.  Thus  has  ended 
the  most  wicked  and  absurd  attempt  ever  tried  by  the  Fed- 
eralists. .  .  . 

19th  February,  1801. 

.  .  .  My  last  letter  informed  you  of  our  final  success  in  elect- 
ing Mr.  Jefferson.  The  Republicans  are  allowed,  even  by  their 
opponents,  to  have  acted  on  that  occasion  with  a  cool  firmness 
which,  before  the  first  day  of  the  contest  was  over,  convinced 
the  wisest  of  that  party  that  we  would  never  yield,  that  we  had 
well  ascertained  the  ground  on  which  we  stood,  and  that  a  de- 


1801.  THE     LEGISLATURE.     1789-1801.  263 

termination  thus  formed  was  not  likely  to  be  changed  from  fear 
or  intrigue.  They  were  much  at  a  loss  how  to  act ;  unsupported 
even  by  their  party  out-of-doors,  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  their 
own  attempt,  convinced  that  they  must  give  up  their  untenable 
ground,  their  unsubdued  pride  stood  in  the  way  of  any  dignified 
way  of  acting  on  their  part.  They  had  but  one  proper  mode  to 
pursue,  and  that  was  for  the  whole  party  to  come  over ;  instead 
of  which  they  contrived  merely  to  suffer  Mr.  Jefferson  to  be 
chosen  without  a  single  man  of  theirs  voting  for  him.  This  is 
construed  by  some  as  a  symptom  of  a  general  hostility  hereafter 
by  an  unbroken  phalanx.  But  in  this  I  do  not  agree,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  of  our  making  an  impression  on  them  and  effect- 
ually breaking  up  the  party,  provided  we  have  patience  and  dis- 
cretion. At  present,  however,  they  are  decidedly  hostile,  and 
as  the  Senate  has,  very  improperly  indeed,  been  called  by  Mr. 
Adams  to  meet  on  the  4th  March  next,  when  three  of  the  newly- 
elected  Republican  Senators  cannot  attend,  and  the  expected 
Eepublican  Senator  from  Maryland  is  not  yet  elected,  they  will, 
it  is  expected,  evince  that  hostility  by  thwarting  Mr.  Jefferson's 
nominations.  Amongst  those  nominations  which,  as  communi- 
cated yesterday  to  me  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  are  intended  to  be  made, 
the  most  obnoxious  to  the  other  party,  and  the  only  one  which  I 
think  will  be  rejected,  is  that  of  a  certain  friend  of  yours.  That 
he  should  be  fixed  at  the  seat  of  government  and  should  hold 
one  of  the  great  offices  is  pressed  on  him  in  such  manner  and 
considered  as  so  extremely  important  by  several  of  our  friends, 
that  he  will  do  whatever  is  ordered.  But  I  will  not  be  sorry 
nor  hurt  in  my  feelings  if  his  nomination  should  be  rejected,  for 
exclusively  of  the  immense  responsibility,  labor,  &c.,  &c.,  at- 
tached to  the  intended  office,  another  plan  which  would  be  much 
more  agreeable  to  him  and  to  you  has  been  suggested  not  by  his 
political  friends,  but  by  his  New  York  friends.  I  will  be  more 
explicit  when  we  meet.  .  .  . 

23d  February,  1801. 

.  .  .  From  every  present  appearance  I  am  led  to  think  that 
it  will  be  necessary  for  us  (by  us  I  mean  you,  the  children,  and 
me)  to  remove  to  this  city  about  1st  May  next ;  but  then  there 
is  a  chance  that  we  may  leave  it  next  fall  if  the  Senate  shall 


264  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

then  refuse  to  confirm.  At  all  events,  I  conclude  that,  however 
inconvenient  that  arrangement  may  be  in  other  respects,  it  will 
be  agreeable  to  you.  But  I  must  state  one  thing.  Remember 
that  whatever  may  be  our  station  this  side  the  mountains,  it  will 
be  essentially  necessary  that  we  should  be  extremely  humble  in 
our  expenses.  This  I  know  will  be  found  by  you  a  little  harder 
than  you  expect,  for  the  style  of  living  here  is  Maryland-like, 
and  it  requires  more  fortitude  to  live  here  in  a  humble  way  than 
it  did  in  Philadelphia ;  but  I  repeat  it,  it  will  be  strictly  neces- 
sary, and  on  that  you  must  resolve  before  you  conclude  to  leave 
our  present  home.  .  .  . 

26th  February,  1801. 

...  I  still  calculate  upon  leaving  this  city  Friday  week,  6th 
of  March ;  at  all  events,  not  before  the  Thursday.  Wednesday, 
4th,  is  the  inauguration  day  of  our  new  President.  I  want  to 
stay  on  that  day  at  least,  and  so  long  as  to  ascertain  how  far  the 
Senate  will  approve  or  reject  the  nominations  submitted  to  them 
for  the  intended  future  Administration.  These  will  be  but  few 
in  number  and  decided  on  Wednesday  or  Thursday  at  farthest. 
As  I  had  foreseen,  the  greatest  exertions  are  made  to  defeat  the 
appointment  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  I  am  still  of 
opinion  that  if  presented  the  4th  of  March  it  will  be  rejected. 
If  not  presented,  and  an  appointment  by  the  President  without 
Senate  should  afterwards  take  place,  it  must  be  confirmed  in 
December  next,  and  although  it  is  probable,  yet  it  is  not  certain, 
that  it  would  then  be  ratified.  This  would  be  a  serious  incon- 
venience. To  have  removed  to  this  place  at  considerable  ex- 
pense, made,  as  must  necessarily  be  the  case,  some  sacrifices  in 
order  to  close  the  business  at  home,  and  in  winter  to  be  obliged 
to  move  again,  would  not  be  pleasing  nor  advantageous.  In- 
deed, on  the  whole,  a  positive  refusal  to  come  in  on  any  terms 
but  a  previous  confirmation  by  Senate  was  at  first  given;  but 
subsequent  circumstances,  which  I  cannot  trust  to  a  letter,  but 
will  mention  at  large  when  we  meet,  induced  a  compliance  with 
the  general  wish  of  all  our  political  friends.  The  Federal 
Senators  generally  continue  very  hostile.  They  have  brought 
in  a  bill  to  prevent  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  from  being  con- 
cerned in  trade,  which  is  aimed  at  General  S.  Smith,  and  is  the 


1801.  THE    LEGISLATUKE.     1789-1801.  265 

more  indecent  on  their  part,  as  Stoddart  has  always  been  in  trade 
himself.  Bingham  is  quite  sincere  in  his  exertions  in  support 
of  the  intended  nomination  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
in  favor  of  the  bill  intended  on  the  subject  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy.  I  speak  to  you  more  on  that  than  on  any  other 
subject  because  I  know  you  feel  more  interested  in  it.  ... 

6th  March,  1801. 

.  .  .  The  President  was  inaugurated  yesterday,  and  this  day 
has  nominated  Messrs.  Madison,  Dearborn,  Lincoln,  and  Robert 
R.  Livingston  for  Secretaries  of  State  and  War,  Attorney-General 
and  minister  to  France,  respectively,  all  of  which  have  been 
approved  of  by  the  Senate.  A  majority  of  that  body  would,  it 
is  supposed,  have  rejected  a  nomination  for  a  new  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury;  whether  that  be  true  or  not  I  cannot  tell, 
but  as  I  could  not  at  any  event  have  accepted  immediately,  no 
nomination  was  made.  Mr.  Dexter  has  with  great  civility  to 
the  President  agreed  to  stay  until  a  successor  shall  have  been 
appointed.  Both  Smith  and  Langdon  decline.  Mrs.  Smith  is 
here  and  hates  this  place.  But  to  come  to  the  point :  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson requested  that  I  should  stay  three  days  longer  in  order  to 
see  Mr.  Madison  and  that  I  should  be  able  to  understand  the 
general  outlines  which  are  contemplated  or  may  be  agreed  on  as 
the  leading  principles  of  the  new  Administration.  As  it  was 
for  my  convenience  that  the  appointment  was  delayed,  I  could 
not,  even  had  I  thought  my  presence  useless,  have  objected  to 
his  wish.  .  .  .  Mr.  Adams  left  the  city  yesterday  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  meanness,  inde- 
cency, almost  insanity,  of  his  conduct,  specially  of  late.  But 
he  is  fallen  and  not  dangerous.  Let  him  be  forgotten.  The 
Federal  phalanx  in  Senate  is  more  to  be  feared.  Yet  with  the 
people  on  our  side  and  the  purity  of  our  intentions,  I  hope  we 
will  be  able  to  go  on.  But  indeed,  my  dear,  this  is  an  arduous 
and  momentous  undertaking  in  which  I  am  called  to  take  a 
share.  .  .  . 

The  struggle  was  completely  over.  All  the  dangers,  real  and 
imaginary,  had  vanished.  The  great  Federal  party  which  had 


266  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

created,  organized,  and  for  twelve  years  administered  the  gov- 
ernment, and  whose  chief  now  handed  it,  safe  and  undisturbed, 
to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  friends,  was  prostrate,  broken  and 
torn  by  dying  convulsions.  The  new  political  force  of  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  guide  had  no  word  of  sympathy  for  the 
vanquished.  Full  of  hope  and  self-confidence,  he  took  the 
helm  and  promised  that  "  now  the  ship  was  put  on  her  Repub- 
lican tack  she  would  show  by  the  beauty  of  her  motion  the  skill 
of  her  builders/'  Even  Mr.  Gallatin's  cooler  head  felt  the 
power  of  the  strong  wine,  success.  He  too  believed  that  human 
nature  was  to  show  itself  in  new  aspects,  and  that  the  failures 
of  the  past  were  due  to  the  faults  of  the  past.  "  Every  man, 
from  John  Adams  to  John  Hewitt,  who  undertakes  to  do  what 
he  does  not  understand  deserves  a  whipping,"  he  wrote  to  his 
wife  a  year  later,  when  his  tailor  had  spoiled  a  coat  for  him. 
He  had  yet  to  pass  through  his  twelve  years  of  struggle  and 
disappointment  in  order  to  learn  how  his  own  followers  and  his 
own  President  were  to  answer  his  ideal,  when  the  same  insolence 
of  foreign  dictation  and  the  same  violence  of  a  recalcitrant  party 
presented  to  their  and  to  his  own  lips  the  cup  of  which  John 
Adams  was  now  draining  the  dregs. 


BOOK    III. 

THE   TREASURY.     1801-1813. 

IN  governments,  as  in  households,  he  who  holds  the  purse 
holds  the  power.  The  Treasury  is  the  natural  point  of  control 
to  be  occupied  by  any  statesman  who  aims  at  organization  or 
reform,  and  conversely  no  organization  or  reform  is  likely  to 
succeed  that  does  not  begin  with  and  is  not  guided  by  the 
Treasury.  The  highest  type  of  practical  statesmanship  must 
always  take  this  direction.  Washington  and  Jefferson  doubtless 
stand  pre-eminent  as  the  representatives  of  what  is  best  in  our 
national  character  or  its  aspirations,  but  Washington  depended 
mainly  upon  Hamilton,  and  without  Gallatin  Mr.  Jefferson 
would  have  been  helpless.  The  mere  financial  duties  of  the 
Treasury,  serious  as  they  are,  were  the  least  of  the  burdens  these 
men  had  to  carry;  their  keenest  anxieties  were  not  connected 
most  nearly  with  their  own  department,  but  resulted  from  that 
effort  to  control  the  whole  machinery  and  policy  of  government 
which  is  necessarily  forced  upon  the  holder  of  the  purse.  Pos- 
sibly it  may  be  said  with  truth  that  a  majority  of  financial  min- 
isters have  not  so  understood  their  duties,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  ministers  who  composed  this  majority  have  hardly  left  great 
reputations  behind  them.  Perhaps,  too,  the  very  magnitude  and 
overshadowing  influence  of  the  Treasury  have  tended  to  rouse  a 
certain  jealousy  in  the  minds  of  successive  Presidents,  and  have 
worked  to  dwarf  an  authority  legitimate  in  itself,  but  certainly 
dangerous  to  the  Executive  head.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  are, 
to  the  present  time,  in  all  American  history  only  two  examples 
of  practical  statesmanship  which  can  serve  as  perfect  models,  not 
perhaps  in  all  respects  for  imitation,  but  for  study,  to  persons 
who  wish  to  understand  what  practical  statesmanship  has  been 
under  an  American  system.  Public  men  in  considerable  numbers 

267 


268  LITE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

and  of  high  merit  have  run  their  careers  in  national  politics,  but 
only  two  have  had  at  once  the  breadth  of  mind  to  grapple  with 
the  machine  of  government  as  a  whole,  and  the  authority  neces- 
sary to  make  it  work  efficiently  for  a  given  object;  the  practical 
knowledge  of  affairs  and  of  politics  that  enabled  them  to  foresee 
every  movement;  the  long  apprenticeship  which  had  allowed 
them  to  educate  and  discipline  their  parties;  and  finally,  the  good 
fortune  to  enjoy  power  when  government  was  still  plastic  and 
capable  of  receiving  a  new  impulse.  The  conditions  of  the 
highest  practical  statesmanship  require  that  its  models  should  be 
financiers;  the  conditions  of  our  history  have  hitherto  limited 
their  appearance  and  activity  to  its  earlier  days. 

The  vigor  and  capacity  of  Hamilton's  mind  are  seen  at  their 
best  not  in  his  organization  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which 
was  a  task  within  the  powers  of  a  moderate  intellect,  nor  yet  in 
the  essays  which,  under  the  name  of  reports,  instilled  much  sound 
knowledge,  besides  some  that  was  not  so  sound,  into  the  minds 
of  legislature  and  people;  still  less  are  they  shown  in  the  arts  of 
political  management, — a  field  into  which  his  admirers  can  follow 
him  only  with  regret  and  some  sense  of  shame.  The  true  ground 
of  Hamilton's  great  reputation  is  to  be  found  in  the  mass  and 
variety  of  legislation  and  organization  which  characterized  the 
first  Administration  of  Washington,  and  which  were  permeated 
and  controlled  by  Hamilton's  spirit.  That  this  work  was  not 
wholly  his  own  is  of  small  consequence.  Whoever  did  it  was 
acting  under  his  leadership,  was  guided  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously by  his  influence,  was  inspired  by  the  activity  which 
centred  in  his  department,  and  sooner  or  later  the  work  was  sub- 
ject to  his  approval.  The  results — legislative  and  administrative 
— were  stupendous  and  can  never  be  repeated.  A  government 
is  organized  once  for  all,  and  until  that  of  the  United  States 
fairly  goes  to  pieces  no  man  can  do  more  than  alter  or  improve 
the  work  accomplished  by  Hamilton  and  his  party. 

What  Hamilton  was  to  Washington,  Gallatin  was  to  Jefferson, 
with  only  such  difference  as  circumstances  required.  It  is  true 
that  the  powerful  influence  of  Mr.  Madison  entered  largely  into 
the  plan  of  Jefferson's  Administration,  uniting  and  modifying 
its  other  elements,  and  that  this  was  an  influence  the  want  of 


1801.  THE     TKEASUKY.      1801-1813.  269 

which  was  painfully  felt  by  Washington  and  caused  his  most 
serious  difficulties ;  it  is  true,  too,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  reserved  to 
himself  a  far  more  active  initiative  than  had  been  in  Washing- 
ton's character,  and  that  Mr.  Gallatin  asserted  his  own  individ- 
uality much  less  conspicuously  than  was  done  by  Mr.  Hamilton ; 
but  the  parallel  is  nevertheless  sufficiently  exact  to  convey  a  true 
idea  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  position.  The  government  was  in  fact  a 
triumvirate  almost  as  clearly  denned  as  any  triumvirate  of  Rome. 
During  eight  years  the  country  was  governed  by  these  three  men, 
— Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Gallatin, — among  whom  Gallatin  not 
only  represented  the  whole  political  influence  of  the  great  Middle 
States,  not  only  held  and  effectively  wielded  the  power  of  the 
purse,  but  also  was  avowedly  charged  with  the  task  of  carrying 
into  effect  the  main  principles  on  which  the  party  had  sought  and 
attained  power. 

In  so  far  as  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration  was  a  mere  protest 
against  the  conduct  of  his  predecessor,  the  object  desired  was 
attained  by  the  election  itself.  In  so  far  as  it  represented  a 
change  of  system,  its  positive  characteristics  were  financial.  The 
philanthropic  or  humanitarian  doctrines  which  had  been  the 
theme  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  philosophy,  and  which,  in  a  somewhat 
more  tangible  form,  had  been  put  into  shape  by  Mr.  Gallatin  in 
his  great  speech  on  foreign  intercourse  and  in  his  other  writings, 
when  reduced  to  their  simplest  elements  amount  merely  to 
this :  that  America,  standing  outside  the  political  movement  of 
Europe,  could  afford  to  follow  a  political  development  of  her 
own ;  that  she  might  safely  disregard  remote  dangers ;  that  her 
armaments  might  be  reduced  to  a  point  little  above  mere  police 
necessities ;  that  she  might  rely  on  natural  self-interest  for  her 
foreign  commerce ;  that  she  might  depend  on  average  common 
sense  for  her  internal  prosperity  and  order ;  and  that  her  capital 
was  safest  in  the  hands  of  her  own  citizens.  To  establish  these 
doctrines  beyond  the  chance  of  overthrow  was  to  make  demo- 
cratic government  a  success,  while  to  defer  the  establishment  of 
these  doctrines  was  to  incur  the  risk,  if  not  the  certainty,  of  follow- 
ing the  career  of  England  in  "  debt,  corruption,  and  rottenness." 

In  this  political  scheme,  whatever  its  merits  or  its  originality, 
everything  was  made  to  depend  upon  financial  management,  and, 


270  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801 

siuce  the  temptation  to  borrow  money  was  the  great  danger, 
payment  of  the  debt  was  the  great  dogma  of  the  Democratic 
principle.  "  The  discharge  of  the  debt  is  vital  to  the  destinies 
of  our  government/7  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Gallatin  in 
October,  1809,  when  the  latter  was  desperately  struggling  to 
maintain  his  grasp  on  the  Administration ;  "  we  shall  never  see 
another  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  making  all  other 
objects  subordinate  to  this"  And  Mr.  Gallatin  replied :  "  The 
reduction  of  the  debt  was  certainly  the  principal  object  in  bring- 
ing me  into  office."  With  the  reduction  of  debt,  by  parity  of 
reasoning,  reduction  of  taxation  went  hand  in  hand.  On  this 
subject  Mr.  Gallatin's  own  words  at  the  outset  of  his  term  of 
office  give  the  clearest  idea  of  his  views.  On  the  16th  November, 
1801,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson : 

"  If  we  cannot,  with  the  probable  amount  of  impost  and  sale 
of  lands,  pay  the  debt  at  the  rate  proposed  and  support  the 
establishments  on  the  proposed  plans,  one  of  three  things  must 
be  done ;  either  to  continue  the  internal  taxes,  or  to  reduce  the 
expenditure  still  more,  or  to  discharge  the  debt  with  less  rapidity. 
The  last  recourse  to  me  is  the  most  objectionable,  not  only  be- 
cause I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  if  the  present  Administration 
and  Congress  do  not  take  the  most  effective  measures  for  that 
object,  the  debt  will  be  entailed  on  us  and  the  ensuing  genera- 
tions, together  with  all  the  systems  which  support  ifc  and  which 
it  supports,  but  also,  any  sinking  fund  operating  in  an  increased 
ratio  as  it  progresses,  a  very  small  deduction  from  an  appropria- 
tion for  that  object  would  make  a  considerable  difference  in  the 
ultimate  term  of  redemption  which,  provided  we  can  in  some  shape 
manage  the  three  per  cents,  without  redeeming  them  at  their 
nominal  value,  I  think  may  be  paid  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  if  this  Administration  shall  not  reduce 
taxes,  they  never  will  be  permanently  reduced.  To  strike  at  the 
root  of  the  evil  and  avert  the  danger  of  increasing  taxes,  en- 
croaching government,  temptations  to  offensive  wars,  &c.,  nothing 
can  be  more  effectual  than  a  repeal  of  all  internal  taxes ;  but  let 
them  all  go  and  not  one  remain  on  which  sister  taxes  may  be 
hereafter  engrafted.  I  agree  most  fully  with  you  that  pretended 
tax-preparations,  treasure-preparations,  and  army-preparations 


1801.  THE    TKEASTJEY.     1801-1813.  271 

against  contingent  wars  tend  only  to  encourage  wars.  If  the 
United  States  shall  unavoidably  be  drawn  into  a  war,  the  people 
will  submit  to  any  necessary  tax,  and  the  system  of  internal 
taxation  which  then  shall  be  thought  best  adapted  to  the  then 
situation  of  the  country  may  be  created  instead  of  engrafted  on 
the  old  or  present  plan.  If  there  shall  be  no  real  necessity  for 
them,  their  abolition  by  this  Administration  will  most  power- 
fully deter  any  other  from  reviving  them." 

To  these  purposes,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  all  other 
objects  were  made  subordinate,  and  to  carry  these  purposes  into 
effect  was  the  peculiar  task  of  Mr.  Gallatin.  No  one  else  ap- 
pears even  to  have  been  thought  of;  no  one  else  possessed  any 
of  the  requisites  for  the  place  in  such  a  degree  as  made  him  even 
a  possible  rival.  The  whole  political  situation  dictated  the  selec- 
tion of  Mr.  Gallatin  for  the  Treasury  as  distinctly  as  it  did  that 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  for  the  Presidency. 

But  the  condition  on  which  alone  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publicans could  be  carried  out  was  that  of  peace.  To  use  again 
Mr.  Gallatin's  own  words,  written  in  1835:  "No  nation  can, 
any  more  than  any  individual,  pay  its  debts  unless  its  annual 
receipts  exceed  its  expenditures,  and  the  two  necessary  ingredients 
for  that  purpose,  which  are  common  to  all  nations,  are  frugality 
and  peace.  The  United  States  have  enjoyed  the  last  blessing  in 
a  far  greater  degree  than  any  of  the  great  European  powers. 
And  they  have  had  another  peculiar  advantage,  that  of  an  un- 
exampled increase  of  population  and  corresponding  wealth.  We 
are  indebted  almost  exclusively  for  both  to  our  geographical  and 
internal  situation,  the  only  share  which  any  Administration  or 
individual  can  claim  being  its  efforts  to  preserve  peace  and  to 
check  expenses  either  improper  in  themselves  or  of  subordinate 
importance  to  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  In  that  respect 
I  may  be  entitled  to  some  public  credit,  as  nearly  the  whole  of 
my  public  life,  from  1795,  when  I  took  my  seat  in  Congress, 
till  1812,  when  the  war  took  place,  was  almost  exclusively  de- 
voted with  entire  singleness  of  purpose  to  those  objects."1 

To  preserve  peace,  therefore,  in  order  that  the  beneficent  in- 

1  Letter  to  Gales  &  Seaton,  5th  February,  1835,  Writings,  ii.  535. 


272  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALL  ATI  N.  1801. 

fluence  of  an  enlightened  internal  policy  might  have  free  course, 
was  the  special  task  of  Mr.  Madison.  How  much  Mr.  Gallatin's 
active  counsel  and  assistance  had  to  do  with  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  government  will  be  seen  in  the  narrative.  Here,  how- 
ever, lay  the  danger,  and  here  came  the  ultimate  shipwreck.  It 
is  obvious  at  the  outset  that  the  weak  point  of  what  may  be 
called  the  Jeffersonian  system  lay  in  its  rigidity  of  rule.  That 
system  was,  it  must  be  confessed,  a  system  of  doctrinaires,  and 
had  the  virtues  and  faults  of  a  priori  reasoning.  Far  in  advance, 
as  it  was,  of  any  other  political  effort  of  its  time,  and  represent- 
ing, as  it  doubtless  did,  all  that  was  most  philanthropic  and  all 
that  most  boldly  appealed  to  the  best  instincts  of  mankind,  it 
made  too  little  allowance  for  human  passions  and  vices ;  it  relied 
too  absolutely  on  the  power  of  interest  and  reason  as  opposed  to 
prejudice  mid  habit ;  it  proclaimed  too  openly  to  the  world  that 
the  sword  was  not  one  of  its  arguments,  and  that  peace  was 
essential  to  its  existence.  When  narrowed  down  to  a  precise 
issue,  and  after  eliminating  from  the  problem  the  mere  dogmas 
of  the  extreme  Hamiltonian  Federalists,  the  real  difference  be- 
tween Mr.  Jefferson  and  moderate  Federalists  like  Eufus  King, 
who  represented  four-fifths  of  the  Federal  party,  lay  in  the 
question  how  far  a  government  could  safely  disregard  the  use  of 
force  as  an  element  in  politics.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
maintained  that  every  interest  should  be  subordinated  to  the 
necessity  of  fixing  beyond  perad venture  the  cardinal  principles 
of  true  republican  government  in  the  public  mind,  and  that 
after  this  was  accomplished,  a  result  to  be  marked  by  extinction 
of  the  debt,  the  task  of  government  would  be  changed  and  a 
new  class  of  duties  would  arise.  Mr.  King  maintained  that 
republican  principles  would  take  care  of  themselves,  and  that 
the  government  could  only  escape  war  and  ruin  by  holding  ever 
the  drawn  sword  in  its  hand.  Mr.  Gallatin,  his  eyes  fixed  on 
the  country  of  his  adoption,  and  loathing  the  violence,  the  ex- 
travagance, and  the  corruption  of  Europe,  clung  with  what  in  a 
less  calm  mind  would  seem  passionate  vehemence  to  the  ideal  he 
had  formed  of  a  great  and  pure  society  in  the  New  World, 
which  was  to  offer  to  the  human  race  the  first  example  of  man 
in  his  best  condition,  free  from  all  the  evils  which  infected 


1801.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  273 

Europe,  and  intent  only  on  his  own  improvement.  To  realize 
this  ideal  might  well,  even  to  men  of  a  coarser  fibre  than  Mr. 
Gallatin,  compensate  for  many  insults  and  much  wrong,  borne 
with  dignity  and  calm  remonstrance.  True,  Mr.  Gallatin  always 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  the  American  people  might 
safely  increase  its  armaments ;  but  he  well  knew  that,  as  the 
time  approached,  the  need  would  in  all  probability  dimmish : 
meanwhile,  he  would  gladly  have  turned  his  back  on  all  the 
politics  of  Europe,  and  have  found  compensation  for  foreign 
outrage  in  domestic  prosperity.  The  interests  of  the  United 
States  were  too  serious  to  be  put  to  the  hazard  of  war ;  govern- 
ment must  be  ruled  by  principles;  to  which  the  Federalists 
answered  that  government  must  be  ruled  by  circumstances. 

The  moment  when  Mr.  Jefferson  assumed  power  was  pecu- 
liarly favorable  for  the  trial  of  his  experiment.  Whatever  the 
original  faults  and  vices  of  his  party  might  have  been,  ten  years 
of  incessant  schooling  and  education  had  corrected  many  of  its 
failings  and  supplied  most  of  its  deficiencies.  It  was  thoroughly 
trained,  obedient,  and  settled  in  its  party  doctrines.  And  while 
the  new  administration  thus  profited  by  the  experience  of  its 
adversity,  it  was  still  more  happy  in  the  inheritance  it  received 
from  its  predecessor.  Whatever  faults  the  Federalists  may  have 
committed,  and  no  one  now  disputes  that  their  faults  and  blun- 
ders were  many,  they  had  at  least  the  merit  of  success ;  their 
processes  may  have  been  clumsy,  their  tempers  were  under  de- 
cidedly too  little  control,  and  their  philosophy  of  government 
was  both  defective  and  inconsistent;  but  it  is  an  indisputable 
fact,  for  which  they  have  a  right  to  receive  full  credit,  that  when 
they  surrendered  the  government  to  Mr.  Jefferson  in  March, 
1801,  they  surrendered  it  in  excellent  condition.  The  ground 
was  clear  for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  build  upon.  Friendly  relations 
had  been  restored  with  France  without  offending  England ;  for 
the  first  time  since  the  government  existed  there  was  not  a  serious 
difficulty  in  all  our  foreign  relations,  the  chronic  question  of 
impressment  alone  excepted ;  the  army  and  navy  were  already 
reduced  to  the  lowest  possible  point ;  the  civil  service  had  never 
been  increased  beyond  very  humble  proportions ;  the  debt,  it  is 
true,  had  been  somewhat  increased,  but  in  nothing  like  proper 

18 


274  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1801. 

tion  to  the  increase  of  population  and  wealth;  and  through  all 
their  troubles  the  Federalists  had  so  carefully  managed  taxation 
that  there  was  absolutely  nothing  for  Mr.  Gallatin  to  do;  and  he 
attempted  nothing,  in  regard  to  the  tariff  of  impost  duties,  which 
were  uniformly  moderate  and  unexceptionable,  while  even  in  re- 
gard to  the  excise  and  other  internal  taxes  he  hesitated  to  interfere. 
This  almost  entire  absence  of  grievances  to  correct  extended  even 
to  purely  political  legislation.  The  alien  and  sedition  laws  expired 
by  limitation  before  the  accession  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  only  the 
new  organization  of  the  judiciary  offered  material  for  legislative  at- 
tack. Add  to  all  this  that  Europe  was  again  about  to  recover  peace. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  difficulties  with  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  to  deal  were  no  greater  than  always  must  exist  under  any 
condition  of  party  politics.  From  the  Federalists  he  had 
nothing  to  fear;  they  were  divided  and  helpless.  The  preju- 
dices and  discords  of  his  own  followers  were  his  only  real  dan- 
ger, and  principally  the  pressure  for  office  which  threatened  to 
blind  the  party  to  the  higher  importance  of  its  principles.  In 
proportion  as  he  could  maintain  some  efficient  barrier  against 
this  and  similar  excesses  and  fix  the  attention  of  his  followers 
on  points  of  high  policy,  his  Administration  could  rise  to  the 
level  of  purity  which  was  undoubtedly  his  ideal.  What  influ- 
ence was  exerted  by  Mr.  Gallatin  in  this  respect  will  be  shown 
in  the  course  of  the  narrative. 

The  assertion  that  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Gallatin  were  a 
triumvirate  which  governed  the  country  during  eight  years  takes 
no  account  of  the  other  members  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Cabinet,  but 
in  point  of  fact  the  other  members  added  little  to  its  strength. 
The  War  Department  was  given  to  General  Dearborn,  while 
Levi  Lincoln  became  Attorney-General ;  both  were  from  Massa- 
chusetts, men  of  good  character  and  fair  though  not  pre-eminent 
abilities.  Mr.  Gallatin  described  them  very  correctly  in  a  letter 
written  at  the  time : 

GALLATIN   TO   MARIA  NICHOLSON. 

CITY  or  WASHINGTON,  12th  March,  1801. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER, — I  think  I  am  going  to  reform;  for  I 
feel  a  kind  of  shame  at  having  left  your  friendly  letters  so  long 


1801.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  275 

unanswered.  How  it  happens  that  I  often  have  and  still  now 
do  apparently  neglect,  at  least  in  the  epistolary  way,  those  per- 
sons who  are  dearest  to  me,  must  be  unaccountable  to  you.  I 
think  it  is  owing  to  an  indulgence  of  indolent  habits  and  to 
want  of  regularity  in  the  distribution  of  my  time.  In  both  a 
thorough  reformation  has  become  necessary,  and  as  that  necessity 
is  the  result  of  new  and  arduous  duties,  I  do  not  know  myself, 
or  I  will  succeed  in  accomplishing  it.  You  will  easily  under- 
stand that  I  allude  to  the  office  to  which  I  am  to  be  appointed. 
This  has  been  decided  for  some  time,  and  has  been  the  cause  of 
my  remaining  here  a  few  days  longer  than  I  expected  or  wished. 
To-morrow  morning  I  leave  this  place,  and  expect  to  return 
about  the  first  day  of  May  with  my  wife  and  family.  Poor 
Hannah  has  been  and  is  so  forlorn  during  my  absence,  and  she 
meets  with  so  many  difficulties  in  that  western  country,  for 
which  she  is  not  fit  and  which  is  not  fit  for  her,  that  I  will  at 
least  feel  no  reluctance  in  leaving  it.  Yet  were  my  wishes  alone 
to  be  consulted  I  would  have  preferred  my  former  plan  with  all 
its  difficulties,  that  of  studying  law  and  removing  to  New  York. 
As  a  political  situation  the  place  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is 
doubtless  more  eligible  and  congenial  to  my  habits,  but  it  is 
more  laborious  and  responsible  than  any  other,  and  the  same 
industry  which  will  be  necessary  to  fulfil  its  duties,  applied  to 
another  object,  would  at  the  end  of  two  years  have  left  me  in 
the  possession  of  a  profession  which  I  might  have  exercised 
either  in  Philadelphia  or  New  York.  But  our  plans  are  all 
liable  to  uncertainty,  and  I  mast  now  cheerfully  undertake  that 
which  had  never  been  the  object  of  my  ambition  or  wishes, 
though  Hannah  had  always  said  that  it  should  be  offered  to  me 
in  case  of  a  change  of  Administration. 

...  As  to  our  new  Administration,  the  appearances  are  favor- 
able, but  storms  must  be  expected.  The  party  out  of  power  had 
it  so  long,  loved  it  so  well,  struggled  so  hard  to  the  very  last  to 
preserve  it,  that  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  leaders  will  rest 
contented  after  their  defeat.  They  mean  to  rally  and  to  improve 
every  opportunity  which  our  errors,  our  faults,  or  events  not 
under  our  control  may  afford  them.  As  to  ourselves,  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's and  Mr.  Madison's  characters  are  well  known  to  you. 


276  LIFE     OFALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1801. 

General  Dearborn  is  a  man  of  strong  sense,  great  practical  in- 
formation on  all  the  subjects  connected  with  his  Department, 
and  what  is  called  a  man  of  business.  He  is  not,  I  believe,  a 
scholar,  but  I  think  he  will  make  the  best  Secretary  of  War  we 
[have]  as  yet  had.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  good  lawyer,  a  fine  scholar, 
a  man  of  great  discretion  and  sound  judgment,  and  of  the 
mildest  and  most  amiable  manners.  He  has  never,  I  should 
think  from  his  manners,  been  out  of  his  own  State  or  mixed 
much  with  the  world  except  on  business.  Both  are  men  of 
1776,  sound  and  decided  Republicans;  both  are  men  of  the 
strictest  integrity;  and  both,  but  Mr.  L.  principally,  have  a 
great  weight  of  character  to  the  Eastward  with  both  parties. 
We  have  as  yet  no  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  nor  do  I  know  on 
whom  the  choice  of  the  President  may  fall,  if  S.  Smith  shall 
persist  in  refusing.  .  .  . 

The  Navy  Department  in  a  manner  went  begging.  General 
Smith  was  strongly  pressed  to  take  it,  and  did  in  fact  perform 
its  duties  for  several  weeks.  Had  he  consented  to  accept  the 
post  he  would  have  added  to  the  weight  of  the  government, 
for  General  Smith  was  a  man  of  force  and  ability  ;  but  he  per- 
sisted in  refusing,  and  ultimately  his  brother,  Robert  Smith, 
was  appointed,  an  amiable  and  respectable  person,  but  not  one 
of  much  weight  except  through  his  connections  by  blood  or 
marriage. 

The  first  act  of  the  new  Cabinet  was  to  reach  a  general  under- 
standing in  regard  to  the  objects  of  the  Administration.  These 
appear  to  have  been  two  only  in  number :  reduction  of  debt  and 
reduction  of  taxes,  and  the  relation  to  be  preserved  between 
them.  On  the  14th  March,  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,,  discussing  the  subject  at  some  length ; l  immediately 
afterwards  he  set  out  for  New  Geneva  to  arrange  his  affairs  there 
and  to>  bring  his  wife  and  family  to  Washington.  His  sharp 
experience  of  repeated  exclusion  from  office  by  legislative  bodies 
made  him  nervous  in  regard  to  confirmation  by  the  Senate,  and 
Mr.  Jefferson  therefore  postponed  the  appointment  until  after 

1  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  24. 


1801.  THE    TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  277 

the  Senate  had  adjourned.  These  fears  of  factious  opposition 
were  natural  enough,  but  seem  to  have  been  unfounded.  Samuel 
Dexter,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President  Adams, 
consented  to  hold  over  until  Mr.  Gallatin  was  ready.  Mr. 
Stoddart,  President  Adams's  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  was  equally 
courteous.  If  the  story,  told  in  some  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  biog- 
raphies, be  true,  that  Mr.  Marshall,  while  still  acting  as  Secretary 
of  State,  was  turned  out  of  his  office  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  under  the 
orders  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  midnight  on  the  3d  of  March,1  it 
must  be  confessed  that,  so  far  as  courtesy  was  concerned,  the 
Federalists  were  decidedly  better  bred  than  their  rivals.  The 
new  Administration  was  in  no  way  hampered  or  impeded  by 
the  old  one,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  perhaps  of  the  whole 
Administration  the  one  who  suffered  least  from  Federal  attacks ; 
henceforward  his  enemies  came  principally  from  his  own  camp. 
This  result  was  natural  and  inevitable ;  it  came  from  his  own 
character,  and  was  a  simple  consequence  of  his  principles ;  but, 
since  this  internal  dissension  forced  itself  at  once  on  the  Admin- 
istration and  became  to  some  extent  its  crucial  test  in  the  matter 
of  removals  from  office  for  party  reasons,  the  whole  story  may 
best  be  told  here  before  proceeding  with  the  higher  subjects  of 
state  policy. 

Among  Mr.  Gallatin's  papers  is  a  sort  of  pamphlet  in  manu- 
script, stitched  together,  and  headed  in  ornamental  letters: 
"CITIZEN  W.  $m&9&"  It  is  endorsed  in  Mr.  Gallatin's 
hand:  "1801.  Clerks  in  offices;  given  by  W.  Duane."  It 
contains  a  list  of  all  the  Department  clerks,  after  the  following 
style : 

Offices.  Names.  Remarks. 

o  s     1400                 Jacob  Wagner.  Complete  picaroon. 

|  ®       600                 Steph.  Pleasanton.       Nothingarian. 
1 1       800  Brent.  Nincumpoop. 

Some  of  Duane's  remarks  are  still  more  pointed : 


1  See  Miss  Kandolph's  Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  pp.  307-308, 
and  Parton's  Jefferson,  pp.  585-586. 


278  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

Offices.  Names.  Remarks. 

1500  John  Newman.  Democratic  executioner. 

800  Golding.  Adamite. 

600  Israel  Loring.  Assistant  throat-cutter. 

1000  Charles  W.  Goldsborough.  \ 

1000  Jeremiah  Nicolls.  I Damned  RePs' 

1700  A.  Bradley,  Jr.,  A.P.M.  | 

1200  Kobt.  T.  Howe.  iree 

800  Tunis  Craven.  J 

1200  E.  Jones.  A  notorious  villain. 

1200  David  Sheldon.  Wolcott's  dear  nephew. 

1200  Jos.  Dawson.  Hell-hot. 

The  pressure  for  sweeping  removals  was  very  great.  From 
the  first,  Mr.  Gallatin  set  his  face  against  them,  and  although 
apparently  yielding  adhesion  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  famous  New 
Haven  letter  of  July  12,  in  which  it  was  attempted  to  justify 
the  principle  and  regulate  the  proportion  of  removals,  he  urged 
Mr.  Jefferson  to  authorize  the  issue  of  a  circular  to  collectors 
which  would  have  practically  made  the  New  Haven  letter  a 
nullity.  On  the  25th  July  he  sent  to  the  President  a  draft  of 
this  circular : 

CIRCULAR   TO   COLLECTORS. 

The  law  having  given  to  the  collectors  the  appointment  of  a 
number  of  inferior  officers  subject  to  my  approbation,  there  is  on 
that  subject  on  which  we  must  act  in  concert,  but  one  sentiment 
that  I  wish  to  communicate ;  it  is  that  the  door  of  office  be  no 
longer  shut  against  any  man  merely  on  account  of  his  political 
opinions,  but  that  whether  he  shall  differ  or  not  from  those 
avowed  either  by  you  or  by  myself,  integrity  and  capacity  suit- 
able to  the  station  be  the  only  qualifications  that  shall  direct  our 
choice. 

Permit  me,  since  I  have  touched  this  topic,  to  add  that  whilst 
freedom  of  opinion  and  freedom  of  suffrage  at  public  elections 
are  considered  by  the  President  as  imprescriptible  rights  which, 
possessing  as  citizens,  you  cannot  have  lost  by  becoming  public 
officers,  he  will  regard  any  exercise  of  official  influence  to  restrain 


1801.  THE    TEEASUKY.      1801-1813.  279 

or  control  the  same  rights  in  others  as  injurious  to  that  part  of 
the  public  administration  which  is  confided  to  your  care,  and 
practically  destructive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  a  repub- 
lican Constitution. 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson  of  the  same  date  he  said,  "  It  is 
supposed  that  there  is  no  danger  in  avowing  the  sentiment  that 
even  at  present,  so  far  as  respects  subordinate  officers,  talent  and 
integrity  are  to  be  the  only  qualifications  for  office.  In  the  second 
paragraph,  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  is  that  an  electioneer- 
ing collector  is  commonly  a  bad  officer  as  it  relates  to  his  official 
duties  (which  I  do  sincerely  believe  to  be  true),  and  that  the 
principle  of  a  corrupting  official  influence  is  rejected  by  the  present 
Administration  in  its  own  support  and  will  not  be  forgiven  when 
exercised  against  itself." 

Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  thought  this  declaration  pre- 
mature, and  the  circular  was  not  issued.  The  time  never  came 
when  they  thought  it  had  reached  maturity ;  nevertheless  Mr. 
Jefferson  wrote  back :  "  I  approve  so  entirely  of  the  two  para- 
graphs on  the  participation  of  office  and  electioneering  activity 
that  on  the  latter  subject  I  proposed  very  early  to  issue  a  procla- 
mation, but  was  restrained  by  some  particular  considerations ; 
with  respect  to  the  former,  we  both  thought  it  better  to  be  kept 
back  till  the  New  Haven  remonstrance  and  answer  have  got  into 
possession  of  the  public,  and  then  that  it  should  go  further  and 
require  an  equilibrium  to  be  first  produced  by  exchanging  one- 
half  of  their  subordinates,  after  which  talents  and  worth  alone  to 
be  inquired  into  in  the  case  of  new  vacancies." 

Mr.  Gallatin,  however,  soon  returned  to  his  remonstrances : 

GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

10th  August,  1801. 

.  .  .  The  answer  to  New  Haven  seems  to  have  had  a  greater 
effect  than  had  been  calculated  upon.  The  Republicans  hope  for 
a  greater  number  of  removals;  the  Federals  also  expect  it.  I 
have  already  received  several  letters  from  Philadelphia  applying 
for  the  offices  of  customs,  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  generally 
understood  that  the  officers  there  are  to  be  removed. 


280  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Federal  leaders  are  making  a  power- 
ful effort  to  rally  their  party  on  the  same  ground.  Although 
some  mistakes  may  have  been  made  as  to  the  proper  objects  both 
of  removal  and  appointment,  it  does  not  appear  that  less  than 
what  has  been  done  could  have  been  done  without  injustice  to 
the  Republicans. 

But  ought  much  more  to  be  done  ?  It  is  so  important  for  the 
permanent  establishment  of  those  republican  principles  of  limita- 
tion of  power  and  public  economy  for  which  we  have  so  success- 
fully contended,  that  they  should  rest  on  the  broad  basis  of  the 
people,  and  not  on  a  fluctuating  party  majority,  that  it  would  be 
better  to  displease  many  of  our  political  friends  than  to  give  an 
opportunity  to  the  irreconcilable  enemies  of  a  free  government 
of  inducing  the  mass  of  the  Federal  citizens  to  make  a  common 
cause  with  them.  The  sooner  we  can  stop  the  ferment  the  better, 
and,  at  all  events,  it  is  not  desirable  that  it  should  affect  the  east- 
ern and  southern  parts  of  the  Union.  I  fear  less  from  the  im- 
portunity of  obtaining  offices  than  from  the  arts  of  those  men 
whose  political  existence  depends  on  that  of  party.  Office- 
hunters  cannot  have  much  influence;  but  the  other  class  may 
easily  persuade  the  warmest  of  our  friends  that  more  ought  to 
be  done  for  them.  Upon  the  whole,  although  a  few  more 
changes  may  be  necessary,  I  hope  there  will  be  but  a  few.  The 
number  of  removals  is  not  great,  but  in  importance  they  are 
beyond  their  number.  The  supervisors  of  all  the  violent  party 
States  embrace  all  the  collectors.  Add  to  that  the  intended 
change  in  the  post-office,  and  you  have  in  fact  every  man  in 
office  out  of  the  seaports.  .  .  . 

JEFFERSON   TO   GALLATIN. 

MONTICELLO,  August  14,  1801. 

.  .  .  The  answer  to  New  Haven  does  not  work  harder  than  I 
expected;  it  gives  mortal  offence  to  the  Monarchical  Federalists 
who  were  mortally  offended  before.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  thought 
unreasonable  by  the  Republican  Federalists.  In  one  point  the 
effect  is  not  exactly  what  I  expected.  It  has  given  more  expec- 
tation to  the  sweeping  Republicans  than  I  think  its  terms  justify; 


1801.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  281 

to  the  moderate  and  genuine  Republicans  it  seems  to  have  given 
perfect  satisfaction.  I  am  satisfied  it  was  indispensably  necessary 
in  order  to  rally  round  one  point  all  the  shades  of  Republicanism 
and  Federalism,  exclusive  of  the  monarchical ;  and  I  am  in  hopes 
it  will  do  it.  At  any  event,  while  we  push  the  patience  of  our 
friends  to  the  utmost  it  will  bear,  in  order  that  we  may  gather 
into  the  same  fold  all  the  Republican  Federalists  possible,  we 
must  not  even  for  this  object  absolutely  revolt  our  tried  friends. 
It  would  be  a  poor  mano3uvre  to  exchange  them  for  new  con- 
verts. .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO  JEFFERSON. 

17th  August,  1801. 

.  .  .  You  will  find  by  the  other  letter  that  the  Republicans 
expect  a  change  in  Philadelphia;  this  expectation  is  owing  partly 
to  the  removal  of  the  collector  of  New  York  and  partly  to  the 
answer  to  New  Haven,  which,  as  I  mentioned  before,  has  had  a 
greater  if  not  a  better  eifect  than  was  expected.  .  .  .  Upon  the 
whole  ...  it  is  much  better  to  wait  the  meeting  of  Congress. 
Dallas,  who  was  here,  agrees  with  me.  Yet  it  must  be  allowed 
that  the  warm  Republicans  will  be  displeased ;  it  is  the  same  in 
New  York  in  regard  to  Rogers,  who  though  the  most  capable 
was  the  most  obnoxious  to  the  zealous  Republicans.  Duane  has 
been  here,  and  I  have  taken  an  opportunity  of  showing  the  im- 
propriety of  numerous  removals.  He  may  think  the  reasons 
good,  but  his  feelings  will  be  at  war  with  any  argument  on  the 
subject.  .  .  . 

With  regard  to  Duane,  he  was  quite  right.  The  course  of 
Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Dallas  in  resisting  the  sweeping  removals 
urged  by  the  Aurora  forfeited  Duane's  confidence.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Gallatin,  who  had  yet  to  learn  something  about  the  depths  of 
human  nature,  expected  that  at  least  Duane  would  give  him  the 
credit  of  honest  intention ;  perhaps  he  thought  the  Aurora  itself 
might  be  disregarded  if  the  public  were  satisfied;  possibly  he 
foresaw  all  the  consequences  of  making  Duane  an  enemy,  and 
accepted  them ;  certain  it  is  that  the  party  schisms  in  Pennsyl- 
vania began  here,  and  that  in  the  long  list  of  enmities  which 


282  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

were  at  last  to  coalesce  for  Mr.  Gallatin's  overthrow,  this  of 
Duane  stands  first  in  importance  and  in  date. 

Years,  however,  were  to  pass  before  the  full  effects  of  this 
difference  showed  themselves;  meanwhile  the  removals  were 
checked,  and  Duane  pacified  at  least  in  some  degree,  but  it  is 
a  curious  fact  that  the  cause  which  interposed  the  first  obstacle  to 
these  wholesale  removals  was  another  party  schism,  of  which  New 
York  was  the  field  and  Aaron  Burr  the  victim;  and  in  this  case 
it  appears  that  Mr.  Gallatin  favored  removal  rather  than  other- 
wise, while  it  was  Mr.  Jefferson  who,  out  of  distrust  to  Burr, 
maintained  the  Federal  incumbent  in  office.  The  story  is  curious 
and  interesting. 

The  naval  officer  in  New  York  was  one  Rogers,  said  to  have 
been  a  Tory  of  the  Revolution.  The  candidate  for  his  place  was 
Matthew  L.  Davis,  Burr's  right-hand  man,  and  supported  by 
Burr  with  all  his  energy.  The  great  mass  of  New  York  Repub- 
licans, outside  of  the  Livingston  and  Clinton  interests,  were 
attached  to  Burr  and  pressed  Davis  for  office.  Commodore 
Nicholson  was  hot  about  it.  "It  is  rumored,"  he  wrote  to 
Gallatin  on  the  10th  August,  "  that  Mr.  Harrison  in  the  State 
government  and  Mr.  Rogers  in  the  general  one  are  to  be  con- 
tinued. Should  that  be  the  determination,  a  petition  should  go 
on  to  both  governments  pointing  out  the  consequences.  I  can 
with  truth  declare  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  bring  the  Repub- 
lican interest  in  this  city  (if  not  the  State)  in  the  minority; 
and  as  it  applies  to  the  President  himself,'  I  am  of  opinion 
that  he  ought  to  be  made  acquainted  with  it.  There  is  no  truth 
more  confirmed  in  my  mind  of  the  badness  of  the  policy  than 
keeping  their  political  enemies  in  office  to  trample  upon  us; 
after  which,  if  he  perseveres,  I  am  bold  to  say  if  I  live  to  see 
another  election  I  shall  think  it  my  duty  to  use  my  interest 
against  his  re-election."  The  commodore  was  a  great  admirer  of 
Burr,  but  a  month  later  the  commodore  himself,  much  against 
Mr.  Gallatin's  wishes,  applied  for  and  obtained  the  post  of 
loan-officer  in  New  York,  under  a  recommendation  of  De  "Witt 
Clinton,  and  his  mouth  was  henceforth  closed.  The  share  which 
Mr.  Gallatin  took  in  the  New  York  contest  is  shown  in  the 
following  letters : 


1801.  THE    TEEASUKY.      1801-1813.  283 


BURR  TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  June  8,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  seen  with  pain  a  paragraph  in  the  Citizen 
of  Friday  respecting  removals  from  office.  Pray  tell  the  Presi- 
dent, notwithstanding  any  ebullitions  of  this  kind,  he  may  be 
confidently  assured  that  the  great  mass  of  Republicans  in  this 
State  are  determined  that  he  shall  do  things  at  his  own  time  and 
in  his  own  manner,  and  that  they  will  justify  his  measures  with- 
out inquiring  into  his  reasons.  I  think  you  will  not  see  any 
more  paragraphs  in  the  style  of  that  referred  to.  ... 


BURR  TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  June  28,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, —  .  .  .  Strange  reports  are  here  in  circulation 
respecting  secret  machinations  against  Davis.  The  arrangement 
having  been  made  public  by  E.  L.,  the  character  of  Mr.  D.  is, 
in  some  measure,  at  stake  on  the  event.  He  has  already  waived 
a  very  lucrative  employment  in  expectation  of  this  appoint- 
ment. I  am  more  and  more  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that  his 
talents  for  that  office  are  superior  to  those  of  any  other  person 
who  can  be  thought  of,  and  that  his  appointment  will  be  the 
most  popular.  The  opposition  to  him,  if  any  is  made,  must 
proceed  from  improper  motives,  as  no  man  dare  openly  avow  an 
opinion  hostile  to  the  measure.  This  thing  has,  in  my  opinion, 
gone  too  far  to  be  now  defeated.  Two  men  from  the  country, 
both  very  inferior  to  Mr.  Davis  in  talents  and  pretensions,  are 
spoken  of  as  candidates, — I  hope  not  seriously  thought  of.  Any 
man  from  the  country  would  be  offensive, — either  of  these  would 
be  absurd,  and  Davis  is  too  important  to  be  trifled  with. 

You  say  nothing  of  the  sinking  fund. 

Affectionately  yours. 

If  you  will  show  to  the  President  what  of  the  above  relates  to 
the  naval  office,  you  will  save  me  the  trouble  of  writing  and  him 
that  of  reading  a  longer  letter  to  him  on  the  subject. 


284  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

BURR  TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  September  8,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — Mr.  Davis  is  on  his  way  to  Monticello  on  the 
business  too  often  talked  of  and  too  long  left  in  suspense.  I 
was  surprised  to  learn  from  Mr.  Jefferson  that  nothing  had  been 
said  to  him  on  this  subject  since  a  meeting  had  with  his  ministers 
early  in  May.  About  that  period  I  wrote  you  a  letter  which  I 
desired  you  to  show  him.  Such  requests  are,  however,  always 
an  appeal  to  discretion.  The  matter  is  now  arrived  at  a  crisis 
which  calls  for  your  opinion.  This,  I  presume,  you  will  give 
in  unqualified  terms.  In  the  letter  you  may  write  by  Davis  I 
beg  you  also  to  inform  Mr.  J.  of  the  characters  of  the  gentlemen 
whose  letters  will  be  shown  you,  and  I  do  entreat  that  there  may 
now  be  a  determination  of  some  kind,  for  it  has  become  a  matter 
of  too  much  speculation  here  why  R.  is  kept  in  and  why  D.  is 
not  appointed. 

Bradley  will  resign  in  the  course  of  this  month ;  you  will 
have  due  notice.  The  next  time  you  send  a  verbal  message  on 
business,  I  will  thank  you  to  commit  it  to  writing. 

God  bless  you ! 

Mr.  D.  has  been  goaded  into  this  journey  by  the  instances  of 
an  hundred  friends,  of  whom  I  am  not  one.  Yet  I  have  not 
opposed  it,  and  am  rather  gratified  that  he  undertakes  it. 

GALLATIN  TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  September  12,  1801. 

DEAR  SIR, — This  will  be  handed  by  M.  L.  Davis,  of  New 
York,  the  candidate  for  the  naval  office.  I  used  my  endeavors 
to  prevent  his  proceeding  to  Monticello,  but  he  has  left  New 
York  with  that  intention,  and  is  not  easily  diverted  from  his 
purpose.  The  reason  he  gives  for  his  anxiety  is  that,  imme- 
diately after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  E.  Livingston  and 
others  mentioned  to  him  that  a  positive  arrangement  was  made 
by  the  Administration  by  which  he  was  to  be  appointed  to  that 
office ;  that  he  was  so  perfectly  confident,  till  some  time  in  June, 


1801  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  285 

that  such  was  the  fact  as  to  refuse  advantageous  proposals  of  a 
permanent  establishment,  and  the  general  belief  on  that  subject 
has  placed  him  in  a  very  awkward  situation  in  New  York. 

He  presses  me  much,  on  the  ground  of  my  personal  knowledge 
both  of  him  and  of  the  local  politics  of  New  York,  to  give  you 
my  opinion  in  a  decided  manner  on  that  subject,  which  to  him  I 
declined,  both  because  in  one  respect  it  was  not  made  up,  and 
because  my  own  opinion,  even  if  decided,  neither  ought  nor  would 
decide  yours.  The  propriety  of  removing  Rogers  remains  with 
me  the  doubtful  point ;  after  Fish's  removal  and  that  of  others, 
they  in  New  York  seem  to  suppose  that  the  removal  of  Rogers 
is,  on  account  of  ante-revolutionary  adherence  to  enemies,  un- 
avoidable ;  the  answer  to  New  Haven  appears  to  have  left  no 
doubt  on  their  minds  on  that  subject,  and  I  apprehend  that  the 
numerous  removals  already  made  by  you  there,  and  the  almost 
general  sweep  by  their  State  government,  have  only  increased 
the  anxiety  and  expectations  of  a  total  change.  In  relation  to 
Rogers  himself,  though  he  is  a  good  officer,  I  would  feel  but 
little  regret  at  his  being  dismissed,  because  he  has  no  claim  de- 
tached from  having  fulfilled  his  official  duties,  has  made  an 
independent  fortune  by  that  office,  and,  having  no  personal 
popularity,  cannot  lose  us  one  friend  nor  make  us  one  enemy. 
But  I  feel  a  great  reluctance  in  yielding  to  that  general  spirit  of 
persecution,  which,  in  that  State  particularly,  disgraces  our  cause 
and  sinks  us  on  a  level  with  our  predecessors. 

Whether  policy  must  yield  to  principle  by  going  further  into 
those  removals  than  justice  to  our  political  friends  and  the  public 
welfare  seem  to  require,  is  a  question  on  which  I  do  not  feel 
myself  at  present  capable  of  deciding. 

I  have  used  the  word  "  persecution,"  and  I  think  with  pro- 
priety, for  the  council  of  appointments  have  extended  their  re- 
movals to  almost  every  auctioneer,  and  that  not  being  a  political 
office  the  two  parties  ought  certainly  to  have  an  equal  chance  in 
such  appointments. 

As  to  the  other  point,  if  Rogers  shall  be  removed,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  I  do  not  know  a  man  whom  I  would 
prefer  to  Mr.  Davis  for  that  office. 

This  may,  however,  be  owing  to  my  knowing  him  better  than 


286  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1801. 

I  do  others  who  may  be  equally  well  qualified.  I  believe  Davis 
to  be  a  man  of  talent,  particularly  quickness  and  correctness, 
suited  for  the  office,  of  strict  integrity,  untainted  reputation,  and 
pure  Kepublican  principles.  Nor  am  I  deterred  from  saying  so 
far  in  his  favor  on  account  of  any  personal  connection  with  any 
other  individuals;  because  I  am  convinced  that  his  political 
principles  stand  not  on  the  frail  basis  of  persons,  but  are  exclu- 
sively bottomed  on  conviction  of  their  truth  and  will  ever  govern 
his  political  conduct.  So  far  as  I  think  a  prejudice  against  him 
in  that  respect  existed,  I  consider  myself  in  justice  to  him  bound 
to  declare  as  my  sincere  opinion.  Farther  I  cannot  go.  ... 


GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON",  14th  September,  1801. 

.  .  .  This  is,  however,  only  a  trifling  family  controversy,  and 
will  not  be  attended  with  any  other  effect  abroad  except  giving 
some  temporary  offence  to  Duane,  Beckley,  Israel,  and  some  other 
very  hot-headed  but,  I  believe,  honest  Republicans.  This  leads 
me  to  a  more  important  subject.  Pennsylvania  is,  I  think,  fixed. 
Although  we  have  there  amongst  our  friends  several  office-hunters, 
Republicanism  rests  there  on  principle  pretty  generally,  and  it 
rests  on  the  people  at  large,  there  not  being  in  the  whole  State  a 
single  individual  whose  influence  could  command  even  now  one 
county,  or  whose  defection  could  lose  us  one  hundred  voters  at 
an  election. 

It  is  ardently  to  be  wished  that  the  situation  of  New  York 
was  as  favorable ;  but  so  much  seems  to  depend  in  that  State  on 
certain  individuals,  the  influence  of  a  few  is  so  great,  and  the 
majority  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  which,  unfortunately,  the 
majority  in  the  State  actually  depends  (that  city  making  one- 
eighth  of  the  whole),  is  so  artificial,  that  I  much  fear  that  we  will 
eventually  lose  that  State  before  next  election  of  President. 

The  most  favorable  event  would  certainly  be  the  division  of 
every  State  into  districts  for  the  election  of  electors ;  with  that 
single  point  and  only  common  sense  in  the  Administration, 
Republicanism  would  be  established  for  one  generation  at  least 
beyond  controversy;  but  if  not  attainable  as  a  general  constitu- 


1801.  THE     TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  287 

tional  provision,  I  think  that  our  friends,  whilst  they  can,  ought 
to  introduce  it  immediately  in  New  York.  Davis's  visit  to  Mon- 
ticello  has  led  me  to  that  conclusion  by  drawing  my  attention 
to  that  subject. 

There  are  also  two  points  connected  with  this,  on  which  I  wish 
the  Republicans  throughout  the  Union  would  make  up  their 
mind.  Do  they  eventually  mean  not  to  support  Burr  as  your 
successor,  when  you  shall  think  fit  to  retire?  Do  they  mean 
not  to  support  him  at  next  election  for  Vice-President  ?  These 
are  serious  questions,  for  although  with  Pennsylvania  and  Mary- 
land we  can  fear  nothing  so  long  as  you  will  remain  the  object 
of  contention  with  the  Federalists,  yet  the  danger  would  be 
great  should  any  unfortunate  event  deprive  the  people  of  your 
services.  Where  is  the  man  we  could  support  with  any  reason- 
able prospect  of  success  ?  Mr.  Madison  is  the  only  one,  and  his 
being  a  Virginian  would  be  a  considerable  objection.  But  if, 
without  thinking  of  events  more  distant  or  merely  contingent, 
we  confine  ourselves  to  the  next  election,  which  is  near  enough, 
the  embarrassment  is  not  less,  for  even  Mr.  Madison  cannot  on 
that  occasion  be  supported  with  you,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
there  are  but  two  ways :  either  to  support  Burr  once  more  or  to 
give  only  one  vote  for  President,  scattering  our  other  votes  for 
the  other  person  to  be  voted  for.  If  we  do  the  first,  we  run,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  risk  of  the  Federal  party  making  Burr  Presi- 
dent, and  we  seem,  on  the  other,  to  give  him  an  additional  pledge 
of  being  eventually  supported  hereafter  by  the  Republicans  for 
that  office.  If  we  embrace  the  last  party,  we  not  only  lose  the 
Vice-President,  but  pave  the  way  for  the  Federal  successful  can- 
didate to  that  office  to  become  President.  All  this  would  be 
remedied  by  the  amendment  of  distinguishing  the  votes  for  the 
two  offices,  and  by  that  of  dividing  the  States  into  districts ;  but, 
as  it  is  extremely  uncertain  whether  such  amendments  will  suc- 
ceed, we  must  act  on  the  ground  of  elections  going  on  as  hereto- 
fore. And  here  I  see  the  danger,  but  cannot  discover  the  remedy. 
It  is  indeed  but  with  reluctance  that  I  can  ever  think  of  the 
policy  necessary  to  counteract  intrigues  and  personal  views,  and 
wiser  men  than  myself  must  devise  the  means.  Yet  had  I  felt 
the  same  diffidence,  I  mean  total  want  of  confidence,  which 


288  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  ATI  N.  1801. 

during  the  course  of  last  winter  I  discovered  in  a  large  majority 
of  the  Republicans  towards  Burr,  I  would  have  been  wise  enough 
never  to  give  my  consent  in  favor  of  his  being  supported  last 
election  as  Vice-President.  In  this  our  party,  those  at  least  who 
never  could  be  reconciled  to  having  him  hereafter  as  President, 
have  made  a  capital  fault,  for  which  there  was  no  necessity  at  the 
time,  and  which  has  produced  and  will  produce  us  much  embar- 
rassment. I  need  not  add  that  so  far  as  your  Administration  can 
influence  anything  of  that  kind,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  act 
correctly  unless  the  ultimate  object  is  ascertained.  Yet  I  do  not 
believe  that  we  can  do  much,  for  I  dislike  much  the  idea  of  sup- 
porting a  section  of  Republicans  in  New  York  and  mistrusting 
the  great  majority  because  that  section  is  supposed  to  be  hostile 
to  Burr  and  he  is  considered  as  the  leader  of  that  majority.  A 
great  reason  'against  such  policy  is  that  the  reputed  leaders  of  that 
section,  I  mean  the  Livingstons  generally,  and  some  broken  rem- 
nants of  the  Clintonian  party,  who  hate  Burr  (for  Governor 
Clinton  is  out  of  question  and  will  not  act),  are  so  selfish  and  so 
uninfluential  that  they  never  can  obtain  their  great  object,  the 
State  government,  without  the  assistance  of  what  is  called  Burr's 
party,  and  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  bargain  for  that  object 
with  him  and  his  friends,  granting  in  exchange  their  support 
for  anything  he  or  they  may  want  out  of  the  State.  I  do  not 
include  in  that  number  the  Chancellor  nor  Mr.  Armstrong,  but 
the  first  is  in  that  State  only  a  name,  and  there  is  something 
which  will  forever  prevent  the  last  having  any  direct  influence 
with  the  people.  I  said  before  that  I  was  led  to  that  train  of 
ideas  by  Davis's  personal  application,  for,  although  in  writing  to 
you  by  him  I  said,  as  I  sincerely  believe  it,  that  he  never  would 
nor  could  be  influenced  by  B.  or  any  other  person  to  do  an  im- 
proper act  or  anything  which  could  hurt  the  general  Republican 
principle,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that,  after  all  that  has  been 
said  on  the  subject,  his  refusal  will  by  Burr  be  considered  as  a 
declaration  of  war.  The  Federals  have  been  busy  on  the  occasion. 
Tillotson  also  has  said  many  things  which  might  not  have  been  said 
with  equal  propriety,  and  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  hardly  a 
man  who  meddles  with  politics  in  New  York  who  does  not  believe 
that  Davis's  rejection  is  owing  to  Burr's  recommendation.  .  .  . 


1801.  THE    TKEASTJRY.     1801-1813.  289 

To  all  this  Mr.  Jefferson  merely  replied  in  a  letter  of  18th 
September,  written  from  Monticello :  "  Mr.  Davis  is  now  with 
me.  He  has  not  opened  himself.  When  he  does,  I  shall  inform 
him  that  nothing  is  decided,  nor  can  be  till  we  get  together  at 
Washington/7 

The  appointment  was  not  made.  Rogers  was  retained  in  office 
until  May  10,  1803,  when  he  was  removed  and  Samuel  Osgood 
appointed  in  his  place.  Burr's  last  appeal  is  dated  March  25, 

1802,  after  the  matter  had  been  a  year  in  debate.     It  is  actually 
pathetic : 

BURR   TO   GALLATIN. 

March  25. 

DEAR  SIR, — .  .  .  As  to  Davis,  it  is  a  small,  very  small  favor 
to  ask  a  determination.  That  "nothing  is  determined"  is  so 
jommonplace  that  I  should  prefer  any  other  answer  to  this  only 
request  which  I  have  ever  made. 

I  shall  be  abroad  this  evening,  which  I  mention  lest  you 
might  meditate  a  visit. 

Yours. 

These  letters  need  no  comment.  Be  the  merits  of  the  ulti- 
mate rupture  between  Jefferson  and  Burr  what  they  may,  the 
position  of  Mr.  Gallatin  is  clear  enough.  He  did  not  want  that 
rupture.  He  had  no  affection  for  the  great  New  York  families 
which  were  the  alternative  to  Burr;  he  regretted  that  deep-set 
distrust  of  the  Vice-President  which  had  always  existed  among 
the  Virginians;  his  own  relations  with  Burr  and  his  friends 
were  never  otherwise  than  agreeable,  and  he  could  have  no 
motive  for  expelling  them  from  the  party  and  driving  them  to 
desperation.  On  the  other  hand,  Burr  never  included  Mr. 
Gallatin  in  that  exasperated  vindictiveness  of  feeling  which  he 
entertained  towards  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  and  the  southern 
Republicans;  long  afterwards,  in  conversation  with  Etienne 
Dumont  in  London,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  Gallatin  was 
the  best  head  in  the  United  States.1  Yet,  little  as  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  inclined  to  join  in  the  persecution  of  Burr,  he  could  not  be 

1  See  Parton's  Burr,  ii.  69. 
19 


290  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIX.  1801. 

blind  to  the  fact  that  the  large  majority  of  Republicans  felt  no 
confidence  in  him ;  and  time  showed  that  this  distrust  was  de- 
served. Mr.  Jefferson  followed  quietly  his  own  course  of  silent 
ostracism  as  regarded  the  Vice-President,  and  retained  Rogers 
in  office,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  solely  to  destroy  Burr's  influence, 
in  the  teeth  of  the  reflection  curtly  expressed  by  Commodore 
Nicholson  in  the  concluding  sentence  of  the  letter  above  quoted : 
"  I  would  have  Mr.  Jefferson  reflect,  before  I  conclude,  what 
will  be  said  of  his  conduct  in  displacing  officers  who  served  in 
our  revolution,  and  retaining  a  British  tory,  to  say  the  least  of 
Rogers."  Whatever  may  have  been  Mr.  Gallatin's  own  wishes, 
further  intervention  on  his  part  was  neither  judicious  nor  likely 
to  be  successful. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  jealousies,  Burr  was  rapidly  forced 
into  opposition,  and  New  York  politics  became  more  than  ever 
chaotic.  Whether  the  Administration  ultimately  derived  any 
advantage  from  pulling  down  Burr  in  order  to  set  up  George 
Clinton  and  General  Armstrong  is  a  matter  in  regard  to  which 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Madison  in  1812  would  be  worth  knowing. 
The  slight  personal  hold  which  Mr.  Gallatin  might  have  retained 
upon  New  York  through  the  agency  of  his  old  friend  Edward 
Livingston,  who  had  received  the  appointment  of  district  attor- 
ney, was  destroyed  in  1803  by  Livingston's  defalcation  and  re- 
moval to  New  Orleans.  As  these  events  occurred,  and  as  they 
were  rapidly  followed  by  the  Pennsylvania  schism,  in  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  carefully  balanced  between  the  two  parties,  Mr. 
Gallatin,  more  and  more  disgusted  at  the  revelations  of  moral 
depravity  which  forced  themselves  under  his  eyes,  drew  away 
from  local  and  personal  politics  as  far  as  he  could,  and  became 
to  a  considerable  degree  isolated  in  regard  to  the  two  great  States 
which  he  represented  in  the  Cabinet.  Disregarding,  perhaps, 
too  much  the  controversies  which,  however  contemptible,  neces- 
sarily involved  his  political  influence,  he  devoted  his  attention 
to  the  loftier  interests  of  national  policy. 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1801  were  consumed  in  master- 
ing the  details  of  Treasury  business,  in  filling  appointments  to 
office,  and  in  settling  the  scale  of  future  expenditure  in  the 
different  Departments.  But  when  the  time  came  for  the  prepa- 


1801.  THE     TREASURY.    1801-1813.  291 

ration  of  the  President's  message  at  the  meeting  of  Congress  in 
December,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  reaching  a 
decision  on  the  questions  of  the  internal  revenue  and  of  the 
debt.  He  had  the  support  of  the  Cabinet  on  the  main  point, 
that  payment  of  the  debt  should  take  precedence  of  reduction 
in  the  taxes,  but  reduction  in  the  taxes  was  dependent  on  the 
amount  of  economy  that  could  be  effected  in  the  navy,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  resisted  with  considerable  tenacity  the 
disposition  to  reduce  expenditures. 

What  Mr.  Gallatin  would  have  done  with  the  navy,  had  he 
been  left  to  deal  with  it  in  his  own  way,  nowhere  appears.  He 
had  opposed  its  construction,  and  would  not  have  considered 
it  a  misfortune  if  Congress  had  swept  it  away ;  but  he  seems 
never  to  have  interfered  with  it,  after  coming  into  office,  further 
than  to  insist  that  the  amount  required  for  its  support  should 
be  fixed  at  the  lowest  sum  deemed  proper  by  the  head  of  that 
Department.  In  fact,  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration  disap- 
pointed both  friends  and  enemies  in  its  management  of  the 
navy.  The  furious  outcry  which  the  Federalists  raised  against 
it  on  that  account  was  quite  unjust.  Considering  the  persistent 
opposition  which  the  Republican  party  had  offered  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  frigates,  there  can  be  no  better  example  of  the 
real  conservatism  of  this  Administration  than  the  care  which 
it  took  of  the  service,  and  even  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  honestly  be- 
lieved that  the  money  would  be  better  employed  in  reducing 
debt,  grumbled  not  so  much  at  the  amount  of  the  appropriations 
as  at  the  want  of  good  management  in  its  expenditure.  He 
thought  that  more  should  have  been  got  for  the  money ;  but  so 
far  as  the  force  was  concerned,  the  last  Administration  had  itself 
fixed  the  amount  of  reduction,  and  the  new  one  only  acted  under 
that  law,  using  the  discretion  given  by  it.  That  this  is  not  a 
mere  partisan  apology  is  proved  by  the  effective  condition  of 
our  little  navy  in  1812 ;  but  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  subject 
are  well  known  and  fully  stated  in  the  histories  of  that  branch 
of  the  service, — works  in  which  there  was  no  motive  for  political 
misrepresentation.1 

1  See  Cooper's  Naval  History,  i.  192-194. 


292  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  in  the  habit  of  communicating  the  draft  of 
his  annual  message  to  each  head  of  department  and  requesting 
them  to  furnish  him  with  their  comments  in  writing.  On  these 
occasions  Mr.  Gallatin's  notes  were  always  elaborate  and  interest- 
ing. In  his  remarks  in  November,  1801,  on  the  first  annual 
message  he  gave  a  rough  sketch  of  the  financial  situation,  and  at 
this  time  it  appears  that  he  hoped  to  cut  down  the  army  and 
navy  estimates  to  $930,000  and  $670,000  respectively.  His 
financial  scheme  then  stood  as  follows  : 

REVENUE.  EXPENDITURE. 

Impost,  $9,500,000  Interest,  &c.,          $7,200,000 

Lands  and  postage,        800,000  Civil  expend.,  1,000,000 

$9,800,000  Military    «  930,000 

Naval         "  670,000 

$9,800,000 

He  calculated  that  the  annual  application  of  $7,200,000  to  the 
payment  of  interest  and  principal  would  pay  off  about  thirty- 
eight  millions  of  the  debt  in  eight  years,  and,  fixing  this  as  his 
standard,  he  proposed  to  make  the  other  departments  content 
themselves  with  whatever  they  could  get  as  the  difference  between 
$7,200,000  and  the  revenue  estimated  at  $9,800,000.  On  these 
terms  alone  he  would  consent  to  part  with  the  internal  revenue, 
which  produced  about  $650,000. 

This,  however,  seems  to  have  been  beyond  his  power.  Few 
finance  ministers  have  ever  pressed  their  economies  with  more 
perseverance  or  authority  than  Mr.  Gal  latin,  but  he  never  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  on  the  government  with  so  much  frugality 
as  this,  and  the  sketch  seems  to  indicate  what  the  Administration 
would  have  liked  to  do,  rather  than  what  it  did.  The  report  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  a  month  later  shows  that  he  had 
been  obliged  to  modify  his  plan.  As  officially  announced,  it  was 
as  follows : 


REVENUE. 

EXPENDITURE. 

Impost,  &c., 

$9,500,000 

Interest,  &c., 

$7,100,000 

Lands  and  postage, 

450,000 

Civil  expend., 

980,000 

$9,950,000 

Military    " 

1,420,000 

Internal  revenue, 

650,000 

Navy         " 

1,100,000 

Total,  $10,600,000  $10,600,000 


1801. 


THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813. 


293 


The  problem  of  repealing  the  internal  taxes  was  therefore  not 
yet  settled,  and  it  is  not  very  clear  on  the  face  of  the  estimates 
how  it  would  be  possible  to  effect  this  object.  Mr.  Gallatin  ex- 
pected to  do  it  by  economies  in  the  military  and  naval  establish- 
ments by  which  he  should  save  the  necessary  $650,000.  It  is 
worth  while  to  look  forward  over  his  administration  and  to  see 
how  far  this  expectation  was  justified,  in  order  to  understand 
precisely  what  his  methods  were. 

His  first  step,  as  already  noticed,  was  to  fix  the  rate  at  which 
the  debt  should  be  discharged.  This  rate  was  ultimately  repre- 
sented by  an  annual  appropriation  of  $7,300,000,  which  at  the 
end  of  eight  years,  according  to  his  first  report,  would  pay  off 
$32,289,000,  and  leave  $45,592,000  of  the  national  debt,  and 
within  the  year  1817  would  extinguish  that  debt  entirely.  This 
sum  of  $7,300,000  was  therefore  to  be  set  aside  out  of  the 
revenue  as  the  permanent  provision  for  paying  the  principal  and 
interest  of  the  debt. 

Of  the  residue  of  income,  which,  without  the  internal  taxes, 
was  estimated  at  about  $2,700,000,  the  civil  expenditure  was  to 
require  one  million,  the  army  and  navy  the  remainder.  But  the 
tables  of  actual  expenditure  show  a  very  different  result : 


Civil. 

Military. 

Naval. 

1802 

$1,462,928 

$1,358,988 

$915,561 

1803 

1,841,634 

944,957 

1,215,230 

1804 

2,191,008 

1,072,015 

1,189,832 

1805 

3,768,597 

991,135 

1,597,500 

1806 

2,890,136 

1,540,420 

1,649,641 

1807 

1.697,896 

1,564,610 

1,722,064 

1808 

1,423,283 

3,196,985 

1,884,067 

1809 

1,195,803 

3,761,108 

2,427,758 

1810 

1,101,144 

2,555,692 

1,654,244 

1811 

1,367,290 

2,259,746 

1,965,566 

Total. 

$18,939,719 

$19,245,656 

$16,221,463 

Total. 

$3,737,477 
4,001,821 
4,452,855 
6,357,232 
6,080,197 
4,984,570 
6,504,335 
7,384,669 
5,311,080 
5,592,602 
$54,406,838 


From  these  figures  it  appears  that  Mr.  Gallatin's  proposed 
economies  were  never  realized,  and  that  his  results  must  have 
been  attained  by  other  means.  The  average  expenditure  on  the 
navy  during  these  ten  years  was  $1,600,000  a  year.  Instead  of 
establishments  costing  $2,700,000,  the  average  annual  expendi- 


294  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

ture  reached  $5,400,000,  or  precisely  double  the  amount  named. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  notwithstanding  the  frugality  of  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  and  the  complaints  of  parsimony  made  by  the  Federalists,  it 
is  difficult  to  see  how  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration  was  in 
essentials  more  economical  than  its  predecessors,  and  this  seems 
to  have  been  Mr.  Gallatin's  own  opinion  at  least  so  far  as  con- 
cerned the  Navy  Department.  On  the  18th  January,  1803,  he 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  navy  estimates,  closing 
with  a  strong  remonstrance :  "  I  cannot  discover  any  approach 
towards  reform  in  that  department,  and  I  hope  that  you  will 
pardon  my  stating  my  opinion  on  that  subject  when  you  recollect 
with  what  zeal  and  perseverance  I  opposed  for  a  number  of  years, 
whilst  in  Congress,  similar  loose  demands  for  money.  My 
opinions  on  that  subject  have  been  confirmed  since  you  have 
called  me  in  the  Administration,  and  although  I  am  sensible 
that  in  the  opinion  of  many  \vise  and  good  men  my  ideas  of  ex- 
penditure are  considered  as  too  contracted,  I  feel  a  strong  confi- 
dence that  on  this  particular  point  I  am  right."  Again,  on  the 
20th  May,  1805,  he  renewed  his  complaint:  "It  is  proper  that 
I  should  state  that  the  War  Department  has  assisted  us  in  that 
respect  [economy]  much  better  than  the  Navy  Department.  .  .  . 
As  I  know  that  there  was  an  equal  wish  in  both  departments  to 
aid  in  this  juncture,  it  must  be  concluded  either  that  the  War  is 
better  organized  than  the  Navy  Department,  or  that  naval  busi- 
ness cannot  be  conducted  on  reasonable  terms.  Whatever  the 
cause  may  be,  I  dare  predict  that  whilst  that  state  of  things  con- 
tinues we  will  have  no  navy  nor  shall  progress  towards  having 
one.  As  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  it  is  an  event  that  I  will 
not  deprecate,  but  I  think  it  due  to  the  credit  of  your  Adminis- 
tration that,  after  so  much  has  been  expended  on  that  account, 
you  should  leave  an  increase  of,  rather  than  an  impaired  fleet. 
On  this  subject,  the  expense  of  the  navy  greater  than  the  object 
seemed  to  require,  and  a  merely  nominal  accountability,  I  have, 
for  the  sake  of  preserving  perfect  harmony  in  your  councils, 
however  grating  to  my  feelings,  been  almost  uniformly  silent, 
and  I  beg  that  you  will  ascribe  what  I  now  say  to  a  sense  of 
duty  and  to  the  grateful  attachment  I  feel  for  you." 

Nevertheless,  the  internal  duties  were  abolished  as  one  of  the 


1801.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  295 

first  acts  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration,  and  at  the  same  time 
Congress  adopted  Mr.  Gallatin's  scheme  of  regulating  the  dis- 
charge of  the  public  debt.  The  truth  appears  to  be  that  the  repeal 
of  these  taxes  was  a  party  necessity,  and  that  under  the  pressure 
of  that  necessity  both  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  were  induced  to  lower  their  estimates  to  a  point  at  which 
Mr.  Gallatin  would  consent  to  part  with  the  tax.  Mr.  Gallatin 
never  did  officially  recommend  the  repeal.  This  measure  was 
founded  on  a  report  of  John  Randolph  for  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  and  Mr.  Randolph's  recommendation  rested 
on  letters  of  the  War  and  Navy  Secretaries  promising  an  economy 
of  §600,000  in  their  combined  departments.  These  economies 
never  could  be  effected.  The  resource  which  for  the  time  carried 
Mr.  Gallatin  successfully  over  his  difficulties  was  simply  the 
fact  that  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to  estimate  the  revenue 
very  low,  and  that  there  was  uniformly  a  considerable  excess  in 
the  receipts  over  the  previous  estimate ;  but  even  this  good  for- 
tune was  not  enough  to  save  Mr.  Gallatin's  plan  from  failure. 
The  war  with  Tripoli  had  already  begun,  and  further  economies 
in  the  navy  were  out  of  the  question.  Government  attempted 
for  two  years  to  persevere  in  its  scheme,  but  it  soon  became  evi- 
dent that,  even  with  the  increased  production  of  the  import  duties, 
the  expense  of  that  war  could  not  be  met  without  recovering  the 
income  sacrificed  by  the  repeal  of  the  internal  taxes  in  1802. 
Accordingly  an  addition  of  2J  per  cent,  was  imposed  on  all  im- 
ported articles  which  paid  duty  ad  valorem.  The  result  of  the 
whole  transaction,  therefore,  amounted  only  to  a  shifting  of  the 
mode  of  collection,  or,  in  other  words,  instead  of  raising  a  million 
dollars  from  whiskey,  stamps,  &c.,  the  million  was  raised  on 
articles  of  foreign  produce  or  manufacture.  This  extra  tax  was 
called  the  Mediterranean  Fund,  and  was  supposed  to  be  a  tem- 
porary resource  for  the  Tripolitan  war. 

The  final  adjustment  of  this  difficulty,  therefore,  took  a  simple 
shape.  Mr.  Gallatin  obtained  his  fund  of  $7,300,000  for  dis- 
charging principal  and  interest  of  the  debt.  This  was  what 
he  afterwards  called  his  "  fundamental  substantial  measure," 
which  was  intended  to  affirm  and  fix  upon  the  government  the 
principle  of  paying  its  debt  and  of  thus  separating  itself  at 


296  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1801. 

once  from  the  whole  class  of  corruptions  and  political  theories 
which  were  considered  as  the  accompaniment  of  debt  and  which 
were  at  that  time  identified  with  English  and  monarchical  prin- 
ciples. To  obtain  the  surplus  necessary  for  maintaining  this 
fund  he  relied  at  first  on  frugality,  and,  finding  that  circum- 
stances offered  too  great  a  resistance  in  this  direction,  he  resorted 
to  taxation  in  the  most  economical  form  he  could  devise.  In 
regard  to  mere  machinery  he  made  every  effort  to  simplify  rather 
than  to  complicate  it.  In  his  own  words :  "  As  to  the  forms 
adopted  for  attaining  that  object  [payment  of  the  debt],  they 
are  of  a  quite  subordinate  importance.  Mr.  Hamilton  adopted 
those  which  had  been  introduced  in  England  by  Mr.  Pitt,  the 
apparatus  of  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  in  whom  were 
vested  the  redeemed  portions  of  the  debt,  which  I  considered  as 
entirely  useless,  but  could  not  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
attack  in  front,  as  they  were  viewed  as  a  check  on  that  officer, 
and  because,  owing  to  the  prejudices  of  the  time,  the  attempt 
would  have  been  represented  as  impairing  the  plan  already 
adopted  for  the  payment  of  the  debt.  I  only  tried  to  simplify 
the  forms,  and  this  was  the  object  of  my  letter  [of  March  31, 
1802]  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  The  injury  which 
Mr.  Pitt's  plan  did  was  to  divert  the  public  attention  from  the 
only  possible  mode  of  paying  a  debt,  viz.,  a  surplus  of  receipts 
over  expenditures,  and  to  inspire  the  absurd  belief  that  there 
was  some  mysterious  property  attached  to  a  sinking  fund  which 
would  enable  a  nation  to  pay  a  debt  without 'the  sine  qua  non 
condition  of  a  surplus.  .  .  .  But  the  only  injury  done  here  by 
the  provisions  respecting  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund, 
and  by  certain  specific  appropriations  connected  with  the  subject, 
was  to  render  it  more  complex,  and  the  accounts  of  the  public 
debt  less  perspicuous  and  intelligible.  Substantially  they  did 
neither  good  nor  harm.  The  payments  for  the  public  debt  and 
its  redemption  were  not  in  the  slightest  degree  affected,  either 
one  way  or  the  other,  by  the  existence  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  sinking  fund  or  by  the  repeal  of  the  laws  in  reference  to 
them.  The  laws  making  permanent  appropriations  were  much 
more  important.  Even  with  respect  to  these  it  is  obvious  that 
they  must  also  have  become  nugatory  whenever  the  expenditure 


1801.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  297 

exceeded  the  income.  Still  they  were  undoubtedly  useful  by 
their  tendency  to  check  the  public  expenses." 

The  letter  on  the  management  of  the  sinking  fund,  mentioned 
in  the  above  extract,  will  be  found  in  the  American  State  Papers1 
by  readers  who  care  to  study  the  details  of  American  finance. 
These  details  have  a  very  subordinate  importance;  the  essen- 
tial points  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  history  are  the  rules  he  caused  to  be 
adopted  in  regard  to  the  payment  of  the  debt,  and  the  measures 
he  took  to  secure  revenue  with  which  to  make  that  payment. 
The  rule  adopted  at  his  instance  secured  the  ultimate  extinction 
of  the  debt  within  the  year  1817,  provided  he  could  maintain 
the  necessary  surplus  revenue.  The  story  of  Mr.  Gallatin's 
career  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  relates  henceforward  prin- 
cipally to  the  means  he  used  or  wished  to  use  in  order  to  defend 
or  recover  this  surplus,  and  the  interest  of  that  career  rests 
mainly  in  the  obstructions  which  he  met  and  the  defeat  which 
he  finally  sustained. 

Nevertheless,  it  would  be  very  unjust  to  Mr.  Gallatin  to 
imagine  that  his  interest  in  the  government  was  limited  to 
payment  of  debt  or  to  details  of  financial  management.  He 
was  no  doubt  a  careful,  economical,  and  laborious  financier,  and 
this  must  be  understood  as  the  special  field  of  his  duty,  but  he 
was  also  a  man  of  large  and  active  mind,  and  his  Department 
was  charged  with  interests  that  were  by  no  means  exclusively 
financial.  One  of  these  interests  related  to  the  public  lands. 

As  has  been  already  seen,  the  public  land  system  was  organized 
under  the  previous  Administrations,  but  it  took  shape  and  found 
its  great  development  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  hands.  When  the 
Administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  came  into  power  there  were 
sixteen  States  in  the  Union,  all  of  them,  except  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  lying  on  or  near  the  Atlantic  seaboard ;  at  that  time 
the  Mississippi  River  bounded  our  territory  to  the  westward,  and 
the  31st  parallel,  which  is  still  the  northern  line  of  portions  of 
the  States  of  Florida  and  Louisiana,  was  our  southern  boundary 
until  it  met  the  Mississippi.  The  public  lands  lay  therefore  in 
two  great  masses,  divided  by  the  States  of  Kentucky  and  Ten- 

1  Finance,  vol.  i.  p.  746. 


298  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1802. 

nessee ;  one  of  these  masses  was  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  extend- 
ing to  the  lakes,  the  other  west  of  Georgia,  and  both  extended 
to  the  Mississippi.  As  yet  the  Indian  titles  had  been  extin- 
guished over  comparatively  small  portions  of  these  territories, 
and  in  the  process  of  managing  her  part  of  the  lands  the  State 
of  Georgia  had  succeeded  in  creating  an  entanglement  so  com- 
plicated as  to  defy  all  ordinary  means  of  extrication.  One  of 
the  first  duties  thrown  upon  Mr.  Gallatin  was  that  of  acting, 
together  with  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  commissioner 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to  effect  a  compromise  with  the 
State  of  Georgia  in  regard  to  the  boundary  of  that  State  and  the 
settlement  of  the  various  claims  already  existing  under  different 
titles.  Mr.  Gallatin  assumed  the  principal  burden  of  the  work, 
and  the  settlement  effected  by  him  closed  this  fruitful  source  of 
annoyances,  fixed  the  western  boundary  of  Georgia,  and  opened 
the  way  to  the  gradual  development  of  the  land  system  in  the 
Alabama  region.  This  settlement  was  the  work  of  two  years, 
but  it  was  so  deeply  complicated  with  the  famous  Yazoo  cor- 
ruptions that  fully  ten  years  passed  before  the  subject  ceased  to 
disturb  politics. 

At  the  same  time  he  took  in  hand  the  affairs  of  the  North- 
Western  Territory.  The  more  eastern  portion  of  this  vast  domain 
had  already  a  population  sufficient  to  entitle  it  to  admission  as  a 
State,  and  the  subject  came  before  Congress  on  the  petition  of 
its  inhabitants.  It  was  referred  to  a  select  committee,  of  which 
Mr.  William  B.  Giles  was  chairman,  and  this  committee  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1802,  made  a  report  based  upon  and  accompanied  by  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Gallatin.1  The  only  difficulty  presented  in  this 
case  was  that  "  of  making  some  effectual  provisions  which  may 
secure  to  the  United  States  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  west- 
ern lands,  so  far  at  least  as  the  same  may  be  necessary  to  discharge 
the  public  debt  for  which  they  are  solemnly  pledged."  To  secure 
this  result  Mr.  Gallatin  proposed  to  insert  in  the  act  of  admission 
a  clause  to  that  effect,  but  in  order  to  obtain  its  acceptance  by 
the  State  convention  he  suggested  that  an  equivalent  should  be 
offered,  which  consisted  in  the  reservation  of  one  section  in  each 

1  Gallatin  to  W.  B.  Giles,  14th  Feb.,  1802,  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  76. 


1802.  THE    TREASTJKY.     1801-1813.  299 

township  for  the  use  of  schools,  in  the  grant  of  the  Scioto  salt 
springs,  and  in  the  reservation  of  one-tenth  of  the  net  proceeds 
of  the  land,  to  be  applied  to  the  building  of  roads  from  the 
Atlantic  coast  across  Ohio.  Congress  reduced  this  reservation 
one-half,  so  that  one-twentieth  instead  of  one-tenth  was  reserved 
for  roads  ;  but,  with  this  exception,  all  Mr.  Gal  latin's  ideas  were 
embodied  in  a  law  passed  on  the  30th  April,  1802,  under  which 
Ohio  entered  the  Union.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  once  famous 
National  Road,  and  the  first  step  in  the  system  of  internal 
improvements,  of  which  more  will  be  said  hereafter. 

The  details  of  organization  of  the  land  system  belong  more 
properly  to  the  history  of  the  new  Territories  and  States  than  to 
a  biography.1  They  implied  much  labor  and  minute  attention, 
but  they  are  not  interesting,  and  they  may  be  omitted  here. 
There  remains  but  one  subject  which  Mr.  Gallatin  had  much  at 
heart,  and  which  he  earnestly  pressed  both  upon  the  Administra- 
tion and  upon  Congress.  This  was  his  old  legislative  doctrine 
of  specific  appropriations,  which  he  caused  Mr.  Jefferson  to  in- 
troduce into  his  first  message,  and  which  he  then  seems  to  have 
persuaded  his  friend  Joseph  H.  Nicholson  to  take  in  charge  as 
the  chairman  of  a  special  committee.  At  the  request  of  this 
committee,  Mr.  Gallatin  made  a  statement  at  considerable  length 
on  the  1st  March,  1802.2  The  burden  of  this  document  was 
that  too  much  arbitrary  power  had  been  left  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  put  his  own  construction  on  the  appropriation 
laws,  and  that  no  proper  check  existed  over  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments ;  the  remedies  suggested  were  specific  appropria- 
tions and  direct  accountability  of  the  War  and  Navy  Depart- 
ments to  the  Treasury  officers.  Mr.  Nicholson  accordingly  intro- 
duced a  bill  for  these  purposes  on  April  8,  1802,  but  it  was 
never  debated,  and  it  went  over  as  unfinished  business.  Probably 
the  resistance  of  the  Navy  Department  prevented  its  adoption, 
for  the  letters  of  Mr.  Gallatin  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  quoted  above, 
show  how  utterly  Mr.  Gallatin  failed  in  securing  the  exactness 


1  See  Mr.  Gallatin's  "  Introduction  to  the  Collection  of  Land  Laws,  &c.,! 
reprinted  in  his  "Writings,  vol.  iii. 

2  Printed  in  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  i.  p.  755. 


300  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1802. 

and  accountability  in  that  Department  which  he  had  so  per- 
sistently demanded.  Nor  was  this  all.  Probably  nothing  was 
farther  from  Mr.  Gallatin's  mind  than  to  make  of  this  effort  a 
party  demonstration.  He  was  quite  in  earnest  and  quite  right 
in  saying  that  the  practice  had  hitherto  been  loose  and  that  it 
should  be  reformed,  but  his  interest  lay  not  in  attacking  the  late 
Administration  so  much  as  in  reforming  his  own.  Unfortunately, 
the  charge  of  loose  practices  under  the  former  Administrations, 
unavoidable  though  it  was,  and  indubitably  correct,  roused  a  storm 
of  party  feeling  and  even  called  out  a  pamphlet  from  the  late 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Wolcott.  Mr.  Gallatin  therefore  not 
only  was  charged  with  slandering  the  late  Administration,  but 
was  obliged  to  submit  to  see  the  very  vices  which  he  complained 
of  in  it  perpetuated  in  his  own. 

These  were  the  great  points  of  public  policy  on  which  Mr. 
Gallatin's  mind  was  engaged  during  his  first  year  of  office,  and 
it  is  evident  that  they  were  enough  to  absorb  his  entire  attention. 
The  mass  of  details  to  be  studied  and  of  operations  to  be  learned 
or  watched  completely  weighed  him  down,  and  caused  him  ever 
to  look  back  upon  this  year  as  the  most  laborious  of  his  life. 
The  mere  recollection  of  this  labor  afterwards  made  him  shrink 
from  the  idea  of  returning  to  the  Treasury  when  it  was  again 
pressed  upon  him  in  later  years :  "  To  fill  that  office  in  the 
manner  I  did,  and  as  it  ought  to  be  filled,  is  a  most  laborious 
task  and  labor  of  the  most  tedious  kind.  To  fit  myself  for  it, 
to  be  able  to  understand  thoroughly,  to  embrace  and  to  control 
all  its  details,  took  from  me,  during  the  two  first  years  I  held  it, 
every  hour  of  the  day  and  many  of  the  night,  and  had  nearly 
brought  a  pulmonary  complaint." l  Fortunately,  his  mind  was 
not,  in  these  early  days  of  power,  greatly  agitated  by  anxieties 
or  complications  in  public  affairs.  The  whole  struggle  which 
had  tortured  the  two  previous  Administrations  both  abroad  and 
at  home,  the  internecine  contest  between  France  and  her  enemies, 
was  for  a  time  at  an  end ;  Mr.  Madison  had  nothing  on  his 
hands  but  the  vexatious  troubles  with  the  Algerine  powers,  in 
regard  to  which  there  was  no  serious  difference  of  opinion  in 

1  See  infra,  p.  607. 


1802.  THE     TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  3Q1 

America ;  Congress  was  mainly  occupied  with  the  repeal  of  the 
judiciary  bill,  a  subject  which  did  not  closely  touch  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  interests  otherwise  than  as  a  measure  of  economy ;  Mr. 
Jefferson's  keenest  anxieties,  as  shown  in  his  correspondence 
of  this  year,  seem  to  have  regarded  the  distribution  of  offices 
and  the  management  of  party  schisms.  After  the  tempestuous 
violence  of  the  two  last  Administrations  the  country  was  glad 
of  repose,  and  its  economical  interests  assumed  almost  exclusive 
importance  for  a  time. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  his  life  that  Gilbert  Stuart  painted 
the  portrait,  an  engraving  of  which  faces  the  title-page  of  this 
volume.  Mrs.  Gallatin  always  complained  that  her  husband's 
features  were  softened  and  enfeebled  in  this  painting  until  their 
character  was  lost.  Softened  though  they  be,  enough  is  left  to 
show  the  shape  and  the  poise  of  the  head,  the  outlines  of  the 
features,  and  the  expression  of  the  eyes.  Set  side  by  side  with 
the  heads  of  Jefferson  and  Madison,  this  portrait  suggests  curious 
contrasts  and  analogies,  but,  looked  at  in  whatever  light  one  will, 
there  is  in  it  a  sense  of  repose,  an  absence  of  nervous  restless- 
ness, mental  or  physical,  unusual  in  American  politicians ;  and, 
unless  Stuart's  hand  for  once  forgot  its  cunning,  he  saw  in 
Mr.  Gallatin 's  face  a  capacity  for  abstraction  and  self-absorption 
often,  if  not  always,  associated  with  very  high  mental  power; 
an  habitual  concentration  within  himself,  which  was  liable  to  be 
interpreted  as  a  sense  of  personal  superiority,  however  carefully 
concealed  or  controlled,  and  a  habit  of  judging  men  with  judg- 
ments the  more  absolute  because  very  rarely  expressed.  The 
faculty  of  reticence  is  stamped  on  the  canvas,  although  the  keen 
observation  and  the  shrewd,  habitual  caution,  so  marked  in  the 
long,  prominent  nose,  are  lost  in  the  feebleness  of  the  mouth, 
which  never  existed  in  the  original.  Mr.  Gallatin  lived  to 
have  two  excellent  portraits  taken  by  the  daguerreotype  process. 
Students  of  character  will  find  amusement  in  comparing  these 
with  Stuart's  painting.  Age  had  brought  out  in  strong  relief 
the  shrewd  and  slightly  humorous  expression  of  the  mouth ; 
the  most  fluent  and  agreeable  talker  of  his  time  was  still  the 
most  laborious  analyzer  and  silent  observer ;  the  consciousness 
of  personal  superiority  was  more  strongly  apparent  than  ever; 


302  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GAL  LATIN.  1802. 

but  the  man  had  lost  his  control  over  events  and  his  confi- 
dence in  results;  he  had  become  a  critic,  and,  however  genial 
and  conscientious  his  criticism  might  be,  he  had  a  deeper  sense 
of  isolation  than  fifty  years  before. 

In  person  he  was  rather  tall  than  short,  about  five  feet  nine 
or  ten  inches  high,  with  a  compact  figure,  and  a  weight  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  His  complexion  was 
dark ;  his  hair  black ;  but  when  Stuart  painted  him  he  was 
already  decidedly  bald.  His  eyes  were  hazel,  and,  if  one 
may  judge  from  the  painting,  they  were  the  best  feature  in 
his  face. 

Of  his  social  life,  his  private  impressions,  and  his  intimate 
conversation  with  the  persons  most  in  his  confidence  at  this  time, 
not  a  trace  can  now  be  recovered.  Rarely  separated  from  his 
wife  and  children,  except  for  short  intervals  in  summer,  he  had 
no  occasion  to  write  domestic  letters,  and  his  correspondence,  even 
with  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  for  the  most  part  engrossed  by  office- 
seeking  and  office-giving.  After  some  intermediate  experiment 
he  at  last  took  a  house  on  Capitol  Hill,  where  he  remained 
through  his  whole  term  of  office.  When  the  British  army 
entered  Washington  in  1814,  a  shot  fired  from  this  house  at 
their  general  caused  the  troops  to  attack  and  destroy  it,  and 
even  its  site  is  now  lost,  owing  to  the  extension  of  the  Capitol 
grounds  on  that  side.  It  stood  north-east  of  the  Capitol,  on  the 
Bladensburg  Road,  and  its  close  neighborhood  to  the  Houses 
of  Congress  brought  Mr.  Gallatin  into  intimate  social  relations 
with  the  members.  The  principal  adherents  of  the  Adminis- 
tration in  Congress  were  always  on  terms  of  intimacy  in  Mr. 
Gallatin's  house,  and  much  of  the  confidential  communication 
between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  party  in  the  Legislature  passed 
through  this  channel.  Nathaniel  Macon,  the  Speaker;  John 
Randolph,  the  leader  of  the  House ;  Joseph  H.  Nicholson,  one 
of  its  most  active  members ;  Wilson  Cary  Nicholas,  Senator 
from  Virginia ;  Abraham  Baldwin,  Senator  from  Georgia,  and 
numbers  of  less  influential  leaders,  were  constantly  here,  and 
Mr.  Gallatin's  long  service  in  Congress  and  his  great  influence 
there  continued  for  some  years  to  operate  in  his  favor.  But  the 
communication  was  almost  entirely  oral,  and  hardly  a  trace  of 


1802.  THE     TREASURY.      1801-1813.  303 

it  has  been  preserved  either  in  the  writings  of  Mr.  Gallatin  or 
in  those  of  his  contemporaries.  For  several  years  the  govern- 
ment worked  smoothly ;  no  man  appeared  among  the  Repub- 
licans with  either  the  disposition  or  the  courage  to  oppose  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  every  moment  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  time  was  absorbed 
in  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  Department,  on  which  the  prin- 
cipal weight  of  responsibility  fell. 

The  adjournment  of  Congress  on  May  3,  1802,  left  the  Ad- 
ministration at  leisure  to  carry  on  the  business  of  government 
without  interruption.  Mr.  Gallatin  immediately  afterwards  took 
his  wife  and  family  to  New  York,  where,  as  now  became  their 
custom,  they  passed  the  summer  with  Commodore  Nicholson,  and 
where  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  in  the  habit  of  joining  them 
during  the  unhealthy  season  of  the  Washington  climate,  when 
the  Administration  usually  broke  up.  "Grumble  who  will," 
wrote  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  I  will  never  pass  those  months  on  tide- 
water." Leaving  his  wife  in  New  York,  Mr.  Gallatin  returned 
to  his  work  at  Washington.  On  these  journeys  he  usually 
stopped  at  Baltimore  to  visit  the  Nicholsons,  and  at  Philadel- 
phia to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dallas.  The  society  of  Washington 
was  small  and  intimate,  but  seems  to  have  had  no  very  strong 
hold  over  him.  He  was  much  in  the  habit,  when  left  alone 
there,  of  dining  informally  with  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison. 
General  Dearborn's  family  was  in  close  relations  with  his,  and 
the  Laws,  who  were  now  at  Mount  Vernon,  were  leaders  of 
fashionable  society.  But  his  residence  at  Washington  was  sad- 
dened in  the  month  of  April  of  this  year,  by  the  loss  of  an 
infant  daughter,  a  misfortune  followed  in  1805  and  1808  by 
two  others  almost  precisely  similar,  which  tended  to  throw  a 
dark  shadow  over  the  Washington  life  and  to  make  society 
distasteful.  His  close  attention  to  business  seems  at  this  time 
to  have  affected  his  health,  and  the  absence  of  his  family 
still  more  affected  his  spirits.  He  worked  persistently  to  get 
the  business  of  his  office  into  a  condition  that  would  enable 
him  to  rejoin  his  wife  for  a  time,  and  almost  the  only  glimpse 
of  society  his  letters  furnish  is  contained  in  the  following  ex- 
tract, which  has  a  certain  interest  as  characteristic  of  his  political 
feelings : 


304  LIFE     OF     ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1802. 


GALLATIX   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  7th  July,  1802. 

.  .  .  Monday  all  the  city,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  dined  in  a  tent 
near  the  navy  yard;  we  were  about  150  in  company.  I  suppose 
every  one  enjoyed  it  as  his  spirits  permitted ;  to  me  it  looked  very 
sober  and  dull.  Indeed,  dinners  of  a  political  cast  cannot,  in  the 
present  state  of  parties,  be  very  cheerful  unless  confined  to  one 
party.  It  is  unfortunate,  but  it  is  true.  I  had  another  cause 
which  damped  my  spirits.  We  were  in  an  enclosure  formed 
with  sails  stretched  about  six  feet  high,  and  some  marines  were 
placed  as  sentries  to  prevent  intrusion ;  for  the  arrangements  had 
been  made  by  Burrows  and  Tingey.  The  very  sight  of  a  bayonet 
to  preserve  order  amongst  citizens  rouses  my  indignation,  and 
you  may  judge  of  my  feelings  when  I  tell  you  that  one  of  the 
sentries  actually  stabbed  a  mechanic  who  abused  him  because  he 
had  been  ordered  away.  The  bayonet  went  six  inches  in  his 
body  and  close  to  his  heart.  He  is  not  dead,  but  still  in  great 
danger,  and  the  marine  in  jail.  Such  are  the  effects  of  what  is 
called  discipline  in  times  of  peace.  The  distribution  of  our  little 
army  to  distant  garrisons  where  hardly  any  other  inhabitant  is 
to  be  found  is  the  most  eligible  arrangement  of  that  perhaps 
necessary  evil  that  can  be  contrived.  But  I  never  want  to  see 
the  face  of  one  in  our  cities  and  intermixed  with  the  people. 
The  mammoth  cheese  was  cut  on  Monday ;  it  is  said  to  be  good ; 
I  found  it  detestable. 

At  length  he  succeeded  in  getting  away,  but  was  obliged  to 
return  in  August,  and  his  letters  became  wails  of  despair,  in 
which  there  was  always  a  little  mingling  of  humor.  The 
following  is  a  specimen :  . 

GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  August  17,  1802. 

...  As  to  myself  I  cannot  complain,  but  yet  am  as  low-spirited 
as  before ;  it  will  never  do  for  me  to  keep  house  apart  from  you 
and  in  this  hateful  place.  I  am  told  that  even  within  five  or  six 


1802.  THE    TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  3Q5 

miles  from  this  place,  and  off  the  waters,  intermittent  and  bilious 
complaints  are  unknown.  .  .  .  I  am  good  for  nothing  during 
your  absence;  the  servants  do  what  they  please;  everything  goes  as 
it  pleases.  I  smoke  and  sleep ;  mind  nothing, — neither  chairs, 
bedstead,  or  house, — ten  to  one  whether  I  will  call  on  Mrs.  Carroll 
till  your  return.  All  those  concerns  you  must  mind.  I  grow 
more  indolent  and  unsociable  every  day.  If  I  have  not  you,  and 
the  children,  and  the  sisters  in  a  very  short  time,  I  cannot  tell 
what  will  become  of  me.  I  have  not  called  on  Mrs.  Law,  though 
she  sent  a  message  to  know  when  you  and  Maria  were  expected. 
How  is  Maria  ?  as  prudish  as  ever  ?  I  wish  she  was  in  love. 
You  do  not  perceive  the  connection,  perhaps,  but  I  do.  Tell 
her,  ugly  as  I  am,  I  love  her  dearly,  that  is  to  say,  as  much  as 
my  apathy  will  permit.  ...  I  have  been  so  gloomy  this  sum- 
mer that  I  mean  to  frolic  all  next  winter  with  the  girls, — assem- 
blies, dinners,  card-parties,  abroad  and  at  home.  You,  my  dear, 
will  stay  home  to  nurse  the  children  and  entertain  political 
visitors.  .  .  . 

24th  August,  1802. 

.  .  .  Nothing  but  the  hope  of  seeing  you  soon  has  kept  in  any 
degree  my  spirits  from  sinking.  Whether  in  the  plains  or  over 
the  hills,  whether  in  city  or  in  retreat,  I  cannot  live  without  you. 
It  is  trifling  with  that  share  of  happiness  which  Providence  per- 
mits us  to  enjoy  to  be  forever  again  and  again  parted.  I  am  now 
good  for  nothing  but  for  you,  and  good  for  nothing  without  you; 
you  will  say  that  anyhow  I  am  not  good  for  much ;  that  may  be,  but 
such  as  I  am,  you  are  mine,  and  you  are  my  comfort,  my  joy,  and 
the  darling  of  my  soul.  Now  do  not  go  and  show  this  to  Maria; 
not  that  I  am  ashamed  of  it,  for  I  glory  in  my  love  for  you;  but 
she  will  think  my  expressing  myself  that  way  very  foolish,  and 
I  am  afraid  of  her. 

Early  in  October,  1802,  they  were  again  in  Washington,  and 
Mr.  Gal  latin  resumed  work  with  more  philosophy.  The  rest  of 
the  Cabinet  gradually  assembled.  When  the  time  came  for  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  make  his  annual  report  to  Congress, 
he  was  able  to  say,  as  the  result  of  his  first  year's  administration, 
that  the  revenue  from  import  duties,  instead  of  $9,500,000  as  he 

20 


306  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GAL  LA  TIN.  1802. 

had  estimated,  had  produced  $12,280,000,  a  sum  which  exceeded 
"by  $1,200,000  the  aggregate  heretofore  collected  in  any  one 
year,  on  account  of  both  the  import  and  the  internal  duties  re- 
pealed by  an  Act  of  last  session."  The  report,  however,  was 
still  cautious  in  its  estimates  for  the  future ;  in  the  face  of  possi- 
ble losses  in  revenue,  arising  from  peace  in  Europe,  it  adhered 
closely  to  last  year's  estimates,  and  in  the  face  of  navy  deficits 
for  1801  and  1802  still  maintained  $1,700,000  as  the  total  ap- 
propriation for  army  and  navy  combined.  The  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures were  still  to  be  $10,000,000,  and  last  year's  excess 
was  to  be  held  as  a  protection  against  a  possible  falling  off  in  the 
revenue. 

In  his  notes  on  the  draft  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  annual  message, 
Mr.  Gallatin's  criticisms  this  year  seem  to  express  the  satisfaction 
he  doubtless  felt  at  the  success  they  had  met.  Mr.  Jefferson's 
weakest  side  was  his  want  of  a  sense  of  humor  and  his  consequent 
blind  exposure  to  ridicule.  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  now  and  then 
ventured  to  indulge  a  little  of  his  own  sense  of  humor  at  the  cost 
of  his  chief,  as,  for  instance,  when  he  criticised  the  first  paragraph 
of  this  message  as  follows :  "  As  to  style,  I  am  a  bad  judge ;  but 
I  do  not  like  in  the  first  paragraph  the  idea  of  limiting  the  quan- 
tum of  thankfulness  due  to  the  Supreme  Being,  and  there  is  also, 
it  seems,  too  much  said  of  the  Indians  in  the  enumerations  of  our 
blessings  in  the  next  sentence."  But  occasionally  he  flatly  op- 
posed Mr.  Jefferson's  favorite  schemes,  and  it  is  curious  to  notice 
the  results  in  some  of  these  cases.  This  year;  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Jefferson's  famous  recommendation  of  dry-docks  at  Washington, 
Mr.  Gallatin's  note  said:  "I  am  in  toto  against  this  recommenda- 
tion, 1st,  because,  so  long  as  the  Mediterranean  war  lasts,  we  will 
not  have  any  money  to  spare  for  the  navy ;  and  2d,  because,  if 
dry-docks  are  necessary,  so  long  as  we  have  six  navy-yards,  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  general  recommendation  would  be  sufficient, 
leaving  the  Legislature  free  either  to  designate  the  place  or  to 
trust  the  Executive  with  the  selection."  This  was  certainly 
travelling  out  of  his  own  department  into  the  bounds  of  another, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  adhered  to  his  dry-docks  in  spite  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin, who  told  him  that  the  scheme  would  not  command  thirty 
votes  in  Congress ;  and  this  turned  out  to  be  the  case. 


1802.  THE     TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  307 

But  the  Mediterranean  war  was  Mr.  Gallatin's  great  annoyance 
at  present.  His  letters  to  Mr.  Jefferson  show  how  persistently 
he  pressed  his  wish  for  peace.  In  one,  dated  August  16,  1802, 
he  said :  "  I  sincerely  wish  you  could  reconcile  it  to  yourself  to 
empower  our  negotiators  to  give,  if  necessary  for  peace  [with 
Tunis,  Tripoli,  and  Morocco],  an  annuity  to  Tripoli.  I  consider 
it  no  greater  disgrace  to  pay  them  than  Algiers.  And,  indeed, 
we  share  the  dishonor  of  paying  those  barbarians  with  so  many 
nations  as  powerful  and  interested  as  ourselves,  that,  in  our  pres- 
ent situation,  I  consider  it  a  mere  matter  of  calculation  whether 
the  purchase  of  peace  is  not  cheaper  than  the  expense  of  a  war, 
which  shall  not  even  give  us  the  free  use  of  the  Mediterranean 
trade.  .  .  .  Eight  years  hence  we  shall,  I  trust,  be  able  to  assume 
a  different  tone ;  but  our  exertions  at  present  consume  the  seeds 
of  our  greatness  and  retard  to  an  indefinite  time  the  epoch  of  our 
strength." 

But  the  Tripolitan  war  and  the  difficulties  with  Morocco  were 
soon  thrown  into  the  shade  by  events  of  a  much  more  serious 
kind,  which  threatened  to  break  down  Mr.  Gallatin's  arrange- 
ments in  a  summary  way.  In  the  course  of  the  summer  of  1802 
it  had  become  known  that  France,  by  a  secret  treaty,  had  acquired 
Louisiana  from  Spain,  and  had  determined  to  take  possession  of 
that  province.  While  our  minister  in  Paris  was  reporting  the 
progress  of  the  movements  which  were  to  place  a  French  army 
across  the  stream  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  our  government 
received  information  in  October  that  the  Spanish  intendant  at 
New  Orleans  had  interdicted  the  right  of  deposit  for  merchant- 
dise  which  had  hitherto  been  enjoyed  there  by  our  citizens. 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  w^ere  exasperated  at  this  step,  and 
there  was  some  danger  that  they  might  begin  a  war  on  their  own 
account.  The  Administration  at  once  took  measures  to  guard 
against  these  perils,  so  far  as  w^as  possible.  A  confidential  mes- 
sage was  sent  to  the  Senate  on  January  11,  containing  the  nom- 
ination of  Mr.  Monroe  to  act  with  Mr.  Livingston,  then  minister 
in  Paris,  as  special  commissioners  for  the  purchase  of  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Another  confidential  message  had  been 
previously  sent  to  the  House,  which  debated  upon  it  in  secret 
session.  What  passed  there  is  briefly  mentioned  by  Mr.  Galla- 


308  LIFE     OP     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1802. 

tin  in  a  note  of  the  3d  December,  1805  :  "A  public  resolution 
.  .  .  was  moved  by  Randolph  and  adopted  by  the  House.  A 
committee  in  the  mean  while  brought  in  a  confidential  report  to 
support  and  justify  the  President  in  the  purchase  he  was  going 
to  attempt,  and  to  this  an  appropriation  law  in  general  terms  was 
added." 

After  a  few  months  of  anxiety  and  silent  preparation,  the 
Administration  had  the  profound  satisfaction  to  see  this  storm 
disappear  as  suddenly  as  it  had  risen.  The  renewal  of  war 
between  England  and  France  led  the  First  Consul  not  to  accept 
the  American  offer  to  purchase  Louisiana  from  the  Mississippi 
to  Pensacola,  but  to  propose  the  sale  of  all  Louisiana,  which 
then  embraced  the  whole  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  from 
its  source  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  idea  was  naturally 
accepted  with  eagerness  by  the  Administration,  and  even  Mr. 
Gallatin  seems  to  have  felt  for  once  no  hesitation  about  in- 
creasing the  national  debt,  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
purchase. 

The  session,  however,  did  not  pass  away  without  producing 
an  attack  upon  Mr.  Gallatin's  management  of  the  Treasury. 
This  attack  was  not  a  very  serious  one,  nor  is  it  one  that  either 
then  or  now  could  be  made  interesting.  The  Federal  party, 
which  had  created  the  United  States  Bank,  viewed  with  jealousy 
the  course  pursued  by  the  Administration  towards  that  institu- 
tion. Mr.  Jefferson's  letters,  in  fact,  show  a  deep  and  not  very 
intelligent  hostility  to  the  bank.  On  the  7th  October,  1802,  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Gallatin  that  he  should  make  a  judicious  distribu- 
tion of  his  favors  among  all  the  banks,  since  the  stock  of  the 
United  States  Bank  was  held  largely  by  foreigners,  and  "  were 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  swallow  up  the  others  and 
monopolize  the  whole  banking  business  of  the  United  States, 
which  the  demands  we  furnish  them  with  tend  shortly  to  favor, 
we  might,  on  a  misunderstanding  with  a  foreign  power,  be  im- 
mensely embarrassed  by  any  disaffection  in  that  bank."  On 
the  12th  July,  1803,  he  renewed  this  proposition  from  another 
stand-point :  "  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  making  all  the  banks 
republican  by  sharing  deposits  among  them  in  proportion  to  the 
dispositions  they  show.  If  the  law  now  forbids  it,  we  should 


1803.  THE     TREASUKY.     1801-1813.  309 

not  permit  another  session  of  Congress  to  pass  without  amend- 
ing it.  It  is  material  to  the  safety  of  Republicanism  to  detach 
the  mercantile  interest  from  its  enemies  and  incorporate  them 
into  the  body  of  its  friends.  A  merchant  is  naturally  a  Repub- 
lican, and  can  be  otherwise  only  from  a  vitiated  state  of  things." l 
Mr.  Gallatin  gently  put  aside  these  demonstrations  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson,2 and  administered  his  Department  on  business  principles, 
with  as  little  regard  to  political  influence  as  possible.  He  looked 
on  the  bank  as  an  instrument  that  could  not  be  safely  thrown 
away ;  without  it  his  financial  operations  would  be  much  more 
slow,  more  costly,  more  hazardous,  and  more  troublesome  than 
with  it ;  indeed,  he  was  quite  aware  that  its  fall  would  neces- 
sarily be  followed  by  much  financial  confusion,  and  he  had  no 
mind  to  let  such  experiments  in  finance  come  between  him  and 
his  great  administrative  objects.  He  was,  therefore,  by  necessity 
a  friend  and  protector  of  the  bank. 

The  Federalists  did  not  yet  fully  understand  this  fact,  and 
they  were  disturbed  at  learning  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  sold,  on 
account  of  the  sinking  fund,  a  certain  number  of  bank  shares 
in  order  to  pay  the  Dutch  debt.  The  shares  were  purchased 
by  Alexander  Baring  under  very  favorable  conditions,  and  the 
Federalists  showed  that  they  expected  little  from  their  motion 
by  making  it  only  on  the  last  day  of  the  session.  At  the  same 
time  Mr.  Griswold,  in  an  elaborate  speech  made  on  March  2, 
attacked  the  accounts  of  the  sinking  fund.  The  only  result  of 
these  combined  attacks  was  to  call  out  replies  from  the  Admin- 
istration speakers  and  a  long  letter  from  Mr.  Gallatin  himself 
on  the  operations  of  the  sinking  fund.  This  letter,  replying  to 
Mr.  Griswold's  attack,  was  written  in  response  to  a  resolution 
of  the  House,  and  was  completed  in  time  to  be  presented,  before 
the  close  of  the  session,  on  the  night  of  the  3d  March.  It 
appears  to  have  met  all  Mr.  Griswold's  criticisms.  At  all 

1  See  also  his  letter  to  Mr.  Gallatin  of  13th  December,  1803,  Jefferson's 
Works,  iv.  518. 

2  See  his  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson  of  13th  December,  1803,  Writings,  vol. 
i.  p.  171. 

3  This  paper  is  printed  in  the  Annals  of  Congress,  7th  Cong.,  2d  Sess., 
p.  690;  also  in  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  vol.  ii.  p.  37. 


310  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1803. 

events,  the  attack  seems  to  have  made  no  impression,  and  in  all 
probability  the  Federalists  themselves  intended  only  to  punish 
Mr.  Gallatin  for  the  trouble  he  had  so  often  in  a  similar  manner 
inflicted  upon  them. 

The  adjournment  of  Congress  closed  the  second  year  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  Administration.  With  the  exception  of  that  Louisi- 
ana anxiety,  which  another  month  was  to  clear  away,  these  two 
years  had  been  marked  by  complete  success.  Never  before  had 
the  country  enjoyed  so  much  peace,  contentment,  and  prosperity. 
Mr.  Gallatin  himself  had  in  these  two  years  succeeded  in  making 
himself  master  of  the  situation;  he  was  more  powerful  and 
more  indispensable  than  ever;  his  financial  policy  was  firmly 
established;  his  hold,  both  in  Cabinet  and  in  Congress,  was 
undisputed ;  every  day  brought  his  projects  nearer  to  realization, 
and  every  day  relieved  him  from  the  absorbing  labor  which  had 
made  his  first  two  years  of  office  so  burdensome. 

Nevertheless  there  was  cause  enough  for  anxiety.  The  ap- 
proaching storm  in  Europe,  which  was  to  shake  Louisiana  into 
the  President's  lap,  brought  with  it  dangers  in  regard  to  which 
the  experience  of  Washington  and  John  Adams  would  have  been 
valuable  to  Mr.  Jefferson  had  he  only  been  willing  to  profit  by 
it ;  but,  over-confident  in  the  virtue  of  his  theories,  he,  as  his  cor- 
respondence shows,  was  firmly  convinced  that  he  could  balance 
himself  between  the  two  mighty  powers  which  had  dealt  so 
rudely  with  his  predecessors,  and  it  was  a  cardinal  principle  with 
the  Republican  party  that  our  foreign  relations  'were  endangered 
only  by  the  faults  of  Federalism,  and  were  safe  only  in  Repub- 
lican hands.  "  I  do  not  believe,"  wrote  Mr.  Jefferson  on  July 
11,  1803,  "we  shall  have  as  much  to  swallow  from  them  as  our 
predecessors  had."  "We  think,"  he  wrote  on  the  next  day, 
"  that  peaceable  means  may  be  devised  of  keeping  nations  in  the 
path  of  justice  towards  us,  by  making  justice  their  interest,  and 
injuries  to  react  on  themselves."  This  was  the  very  point  to  be 
proved,  and  on  the  result  of  this  theoretical  doctrine  was  to 
depend  the  fate  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration  and  of  Mr. 
Gal  latin's  financial  hopes. 

Besides  this  grave  danger,  which  was  destined  steadily  to  take 
more  and  more  serious  proportions,  there  were  smaller  political 


1803.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  31 1 

difficulties,  which  in  their  nature  must  increase  in  importance 
with  every  embarrassment  that  the  future  had  in  store.  The 
party  schism  led  by  Vice-President  Burr  was  now  beginning  to 
rage  with  fury  and  to  do  infinite  mischief  in  New  York.  In 
Pennsylvania  matters  were  still  worse,  at  least  for  Mr.  Gallatin, 
whose  political  interests  lay  in  that  State.  The  very  completeness 
of  the  Republican  triumph  in  Pennsylvania  was  fatal  to  the 
party.  The  extremists,  led  by  Duane  and  his  friend  Michael 
Leib,  began  a  schism  of  their  own,  the  more  dangerous  because 
they  avoided  the  mistake  of  Burr  and  declared  no  war  on  Mr. 
Jefferson.  Indeed,  they  followed  the  very  opposite  policy,  and, 
sheltering  themselves  under  the  cover  of  their  pure  Republi- 
canism with  Mr.  Jefferson  for  their  peculiar  patron,  they  de- 
clared war  upon  Mr.  Jefferson's  Cabinet.  On  the  10th  May, 
1803,  Joseph  H.  Nicholson  warned  Mr.  Gallatin  of  what  was  to 
happen :  "  I  have  enclosed  the  President  a  letter  from  Captain 
Jones  to  me,  which  you  can  see  if  you  please.  He  says  that 
Duane  and  his  coadjutors  meditate  an  attack  upon  Mr.  Madison 
and  yourself  for  setting  your  faces  against  the  office-hunters." 
Mr.  Jefferson  on  this  occasion  did  not  treat  Duane  as  he  had 
treated  Burr ;  he  attempted  to  intervene  and  soothe  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  his  over-zealous  partisans.  He  consulted  Mr.  Gallatin 
on  the  subject,  and  sent  him  the  draft  of  a  letter  to  Duane.  Mr. 
Gallatin,  on  the  13th  August,  1803,  returned  the  draft  and  at- 
tempted to  dissuade  the  President  from  sending  the  proposed 
letter:  "Either  a  schism  will  take  place,  in  which  case  the 
leaders  of  those  men  would  divide  from  us,  or  time  and  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  will  of  themselves  cure  the  evil.  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  last  will  happen,  and  that  the  number 
of  malcontents  is  not  very  considerable  and  will  diminish.  .  .  . 
It  is  highly  probable  that  Duane,  who  may  be  misled  by  vanity 
and  by  his  associates,  but  whose  sincere  Republicanism  I  cannot 
permit  myself  to  doubt,  will  adhere  to  us  when  his  best  friends 
shall  have  taken  a  decided  part.  ...  If  a  letter  shall  be  written, 
I  think  that,  if  possible,  it  should  be  much  shorter  than  your 
draft,  and  have  perhaps  less  the  appearance  of  apology.  The 
irresistible  argument  to  men  disposed  to  listen  to  argument  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  the  perfect  approbation  given  by  the  Republi- 


312  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1803. 

cans  to  all  the  leading  measures  of  government,  and  the  inference 
that  men  who  are  disposed  under  those  circumstances  to  asperse 
Administration  seem  to  avow  that  the  hard  struggle  of  so  many 
years  was  not  for  the  purpose  of  securing  our  republican  insti- 
tutions and- of  giving  a  proper  direction  to  the  operations  of 
government,  but  for  the  sake  of  a  few  paltry  offices, — offices  not 
of  a  political  and  discretionary  nature,  but  mere  inferior  admin- 
istrative offices  of  profit." 

Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  have  followed  this  advice  and  to  have 
suppressed  the  proposed  letter.1  Duane  continued  his  attacks  on 
the  moderate  wing  of  the  Republican  party,  and  Mr.  Gallatin's 
hopes  that  he  would  find  no  following  were  soon  disappointed. 
A  complete  separation  took  place  between  him  and  Governor 
McKean.  Perhaps  the  existence  of  this  schism  had  something 
to  do  with  the  offer,  which  Mr.  Dallas  was  now  commissioned 
to  make,  of  putting  Governor  McKean  in  nomination  for  the 
Vice-Presidency  in  the  general  election  of  1804.  The  offer  was 
declined,  and  George  Clinton  was  substituted  in  his  place,  but 
Governor  McKean's  letter  of  declination  is  so  characteristic  as 
to  be  worth  publication. 

THOMAS   McKEAN   TO  ALEXANDER  J.  DALLAS. 

LANCASTER,  16th  October,  1803. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  friendly  letter  of  the  14th  has  been  read 
with  pleasure.  I  am  much  obliged  to  the  kind  sentiments  of 
my  friends  in  thinking  me  a  suitable  character  to  be  proposed  as 
a  candidate  for  the  dignified  station  of  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  but  must  absolutely  decline  that  honor.  The 
office  of  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  satisfies  my  ambition,  and  it 
has  been  conferred  in  such  a  manner,  at  two  elections,  that  the 
people  are  endeared  to  me ;  indeed,  it  appears  to  me  that  I  am 
engaged  to  continue  in  this  distinguished  character  the  constitu- 
tional term,  if  it  shall  be  the  desire  of  my  fellow-citizens.  I  am 
now  descending  in  the  vale  of  years,  and  am  satisfied  with  my 
share  of  honors ;  that  of  President  of  the  United  States  in  Con- 

1  This  letter  will  be  found  in  Gallatin's  "Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  130. 


1803.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1818.  313 

gress  assembled  in  the  year  1781  (a  proud  year  for  Americans) 
equalled  any  merit  or  pretensions  of  mine,  and  cannot  now  be 
increased  by  the  office  of  Vice-President.  But,  all  personal  con- 
siderations waived,  what  would  be  the  probable  result  of  my 
acceptance  of  the  proposed  post?  Little,  very  little  benefit  to 
the  people  of  America,  but  at  least  a  doubtful  situation  to  my 
fellow-citizens  of  Pennsylvania.  What  would  be  the  fate  of  my 
friends,  of  those  I  have  placed  in  office,  and  of  the  liberty  of  the 
State  at  this  most  critical  period,  were  I  to  resign  the  office? 
Who  is  there  to  control  the  wanton  passions  of  men  in  general 
respectable,  suddenly  raised  to  power  and  frisking  in  the  pasture 
of  true  liberty,  yet  not  sufficiently  secured  by  proper  barriers  ? 
But  I  must  say  no  more  on  this  head,  even  to  a  friend ;  it  savors 
so  much  of  vanity.  In  brief,  who  will  be  my  successor,  possess- 
ing the  same  advantages  from  nativity  in  the  State,  education, 
experience,  and  from  long  public  services  in  the  most  influential 
stations  and  employments ;  who  can  or  will  take  the  same  liberty 
in  vetoes  of  legislative  acts,  or  otherwise,  as  I  have  done  ?  I  con- 
fess I  am  at  a  loss  to  name  him,  and  yet,  when  I  must  resign  by 
death  or  otherwise,  I  trust  the  world  will  go  on  as  well  as  it  has 
done,  if  not  better,  though  I  never  had  existed. 

Be  so  good  as  to  pay  my  most  respectful  compliments  to  the 
President,  to  Messrs.  Madison,  Gallatin,  Dearborn,  Granger,  etc., 
and  compliments  to  all  mine  and  your  friends.  Farewell  and 
prosper.  Adieu. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  party  required  very  delicate  handling.  Em- 
bracing, as  it  did,  materials  of  the  most  discordant  kind,  schism 
was  its  normal  condition.  Between  the  purity  of  Madison  and 
Gallatin  and  the  selfishness  and  prejudice  of  the  local  politicians, 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  obliged  to  make  what  compromise  he  could ; 
but  while  with  quiet  determination  he  drove  Burr  out  of  the 
party,  he  tolerated  Duane  and  Leib  with  extraordinary  patience. 
There  were  very  strong  reasons  which  justified  or  excused  his 
treatment  of  Burr;  particularly  the  position  of  heir-apparent, 
which  the  Vice-President  occupied,  made  it  necessary  either  to 
recognize  or  reject  his  claims,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  hesitate 
to  reject  them.  Whether  his  treatment  of  Duane  was  to  be 


314  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1803. 

equally  defensible  became  more  and  more  a  subject  of  vital  con- 
sequence to  Mr.  Gallatin. 

So  long  as  Virginia  remained  steady  the  Administration  had 
little  to  fear,  and  as  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  schism  in  the  Vir- 
ginia ranks.  Of  all  the  Virginia  members  John  Randolph  was 
the  most  prominent,  and  his  support  was  firm.  Mr.  Gallatin  and 
he  were  on  the  most  intimate  terms,  and  since  Gallatin's  letters 
to  him  are  lost,  some  of  his  letters  to  Gallatin  may  be  worth 
inserting,  to  show  their  relations  together : 


JOHN  RANDOLPH   TO    GALLATIN. 

BIZARRE,  9th  April  (27th  year),  1803. 

DEAR  Sra, — When  your  letter  arrived  I  was  from  home,  and, 
ours  being  a  weekly  post,  my  reply  is  necessarily  delayed  longer 
than  I  could  wish. 

Mr.  Griswold's  first  objections  to  the  report  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  sinking  fund  are  (if  in  existence,  which  I  very 
much  doubt)  among  other  loose  papers  which  I  left  in  George- 
town. The  paragraph  which  you  enclose  differs  from  most  which 
have  appeared  of  late  in  a  certain  description  of  prints,  in  this, 
that  it  contains  some  truth.  But,  as  it  is  resorted  to  only  to  serve 
as  the  vehicle  of  much  falsehood,  it  is  proper  that  a  correct  state- 
ment should  go  forth  to  the  public  of  this  singular  transaction. 

If  I  mistake  not,  the  printing  of  the  report  of  the  sinking 
fund  was  considerably  delayed.  Be  that  as  it  may,  when  Mr. 
Griswold  moved  to  commit  it  to  the  Ways  and  Means  he  specified 
no  objection  ;  he  barely  said  that  there  were  some  parts  which 
required  explanation ;  but,  as  all  documents  of  that  sort  are  of 
course  committed  to  that  committee,  there  was  no  occasion  for 
any  reasoning  to  induce  the  House  to  agree  to  such  a  motion. 
The  resolution  which  he  afterwards  drafted,  and  which  he 
showed  to  me,  was,  I  believe,  couched  in  the  very  terms  of  that 
which  was  passed  by  the  House,  the  words  "  in  fact"  excepted, 
which  at  my  suggestion  he  expunged,  since  he  declared  that  he 
had  no  intention  to  criminate  the  Treasury  and  doubted  not  that 
everything  could  and  would  be  satisfactorily  explained.  I  then 
proposed  to  him  to  reduce  his  objections  to  writing.  They  con- 


1803.  THE    TEEASUKY.     1801-1813.  315 

sisted  of  a  denial  of  the  soundness  of  the  construction  given  by 
the  Treasury  to  the  law  of  1802  making  provision  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  whole  public  debt,  which  was  the  object  em- 
braced by  the  resolution;  and  an  inquiry  into  the  variance 
between  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  Decem- 
ber, 1801,  and  the  report  of  the  sinking  fund,  in  respect  to  the 
amount  of  interest  of  the  public  debt  and  the  instalments  of  the 
Dutch  debt  due  in  1802.  There  may  have  been  some  items 
which  I  do  not  recollect.  But  I  perfectly  remember  what  they 
did  not  contain.  There  was  not  a  syllable  about  the  unaccounted 
balance  of  114,000  dollars,  nor  of  the  detailed  accounts  in  rela- 
tion to  the  remittances  on  account  of  the  foreign  debt,  contained 
in  the  4th,  7th,  and  part  of  the  3d  queries  in  my  official  letter  to 
you  (A.  1).  The  first  intelligence  which  I  had  of  this  un- 
accounted balance  was  from  yourself.  It  made  its  appearance  in 
a  pamphlet  ascribed  to  Stanley  and  addressed  to  his  constituents. 
So  careful  were  the  friends  of  this  little  work  that  it  should  not 
get  abroad,  that  by  mere  accident  a  single  copy  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Alston  on  the  day  before  Mr.  Griswold  brought  forward  his 
motion.  Huger,  who  let  Alston  have  it,  enjoined  him  not  to  let 
it  go  out  of  his  hands.  He  on  the  contrary  carried  it  to  you,  and 
during  the  short  time  that  it  was  in  your  possession  I  accidentally 
stepped  in  whilst  you  were  looking  over  it,  and  this  was  the  first 
notice  which  I  received  of  Mr.  Griswold's  redoubtable  attack  on 
that  point,  It  may  be  proper  to  add  that  when  he  put  into  ray 
hands  the  paper  containing  the  first  objections  to  the  report,  I 
offered  to  transmit  them  to  you,  provided  he  would  move  it  in 
committee ;  and  the  committee  were  actually  convened  for  that 
purpose,  but  he  did  not  attend.  He  declined  also  a  proposition 
of  waiting  on  you  in  person  when  I  offered  to  accompany  him. 
The  committee  taking  no  order  on  his  objections,  they  were  sub- 
mitted to  you  by  me,  and  so  long  a  time  elapsed  that  I  really 
conceived  he  had  abandoned  his  project.  On  our  return  home 
Alston  told  me  that  Huger  was  very  much  irritated  against  him, 
and  those  in  his  quarter  of  the  House  mortified  and  astonished, 
when  I  mentioned  the  coincidence  between  Griswold's  speech  and 
Stanley's  letter. 

And  now,  dismissing  this  miserable   race   of  cavillers   and 


316  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1803. 

equivocators,  let  me  beg  you  to  have  a  reverend  care  of  your 
health,  and  to  assure  Mrs.  G.  (not  Griswold)  and  her  sisters  of 
my  best  wishes  for  their  health  and  happiness.  Mr.  Nym  and 
the  young  secretary  will  participate  my  friendly  inquiries.  I  do 
not  ask  you  to  continue  to  write  to  me,  because  I  know  the 
demands  upon  your  time  both  by  health  and  business.  But  a 
line  of  how  and  where  you  all  are  will  always  be  acceptable  to 
one  who  interests  himself  in  everything  relating  to  you. 

My  health  is  fluctuating;  the  weather  is  raw  and  the  spring  a 
month  behindhand.  Moreover,  we  have  had  but  one  rain,  and 
that  moderate,  since  the  last  snow  on  the  8th  March.  Of  course 
I  am  vaporish  and  gouty.  Adieu. 

Yours  truly. 

P.S. — Smith  should  make  a  statement  "  by  authority"  in  his 
paper  conformably  with  the  within. 

At  an  election  at  Charlotte  C.  H.  on  Monday  last,  J.  Ran- 
dolph had  717  votes,  C.  Carrington  2. 

JOHN   RANDOLPH   TO   GALLATIN. 

BIZARRE,  4th  June,  27th  year  [1803]. 

DEAR  SIR, — Having  sustained  an  injury  in  my  hand,  I  have 
been  for  some  time  debarred  the  use  of  my  pen.  The  first  exercise 
of  my  recovered  right  shall  be  to  thank  you  for  your  last  very 
friendly  and  acceptable  letter. 

Nothing  can  be  more  clear  and  satisfactory  than  Bayard's 
answer  to  himself,  according  to  your  statement  of  it.  But  I 
cannot  help  suspecting  a  difference  between  the  printed  speech 
and  the  original,  not  at  all  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter.  I 
am  unwilling  to  believe  that  he  was  guilty  of  so  gross  an  ab- 
surdity (in  debate),  because  I  am  unwilling  to  believe  that  we 
were  guilty  of  yet  grosser  stupidity,  even  after  making  every 
allowance  for  being  worried  down  with  fatigue.  Such  a  thing 
might  have  escaped  me,  and  perhaps  Nicholson ;  but  that  Gen- 
eral Smith  should  fail  to  detect  it  appears  incredible.  So  far, 
however,  from  overdosing  me  with  the  bank  stock,  as  you  seem 
to  apprehend,  it  is  evident  you  have  not  given  me  quantum 
suff. 


1803.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  317 

You  have  seen  the  result  of  our  elections.  Federal  exultation 
has,  however,  received  a  severe  check  in  those  of  New  York. 
Indeed,  I  do  not  conceive  the  event  here  to  be  indicative  of  any 
change  in  the  public  sentiment.  The  elections,  with  a  single 
exception,  have  been  conducted  on  personal  rather  than  on  party 
motives.  Brent  completely  defeated  himself,  and,  although  I 
love  the  man,  I  cannot  very  heartily  lament  his  ill  success.  By 
the  way,  I  think  you  wise  men  at  the  seat  of  government  have 
much  to  answer  for  in  respect  to  the  temper  prevailing  around 
you.  By  their  fruit  shall  ye  know  them.  Is  there  something 
more  of  system  yet  introduced  among  you  ?  or  are  you  still  in 
chaos,  without  form  and  void  ?  Should  you  have  leisure,  give 
me  a  hint  of  the  first  news  from  Mr.  Monroe.  After  all  the 
vaporing,  I  have  no  expectation  of  a  serious  war.  Tant  pis 
pour  nous. 

You  ask  if  I  have  seen  KennelPs  new  map  of  North  Africa? 
forgetting  that  I  live  out  of  the  light  of  anything  but  the  sun ; 
and  he  has  not  condescended  to  shine,  but  at  short  intervals,  for 
a  fortnight.  I  suppose  it  is  the  map  which  he  compiled  from 
Parke's  Travels.  Do  you  recollect  my  suggesting  to  you,  soon 
after  the  work  came  out,  a  suspicion  that  the  Niger  was  the 
true  Nile?  and  your  determining  that  he  should  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  sands  of  the  desert,  which  we  carried  into  instant 
execution. 

Present  me  most  sincerely,  and  permit  me  to  add,  affection- 
ately, to  Mrs.  Gallatin,  and  believe  me,  dear  sir,  most  truly 
yours. 

P.S. — I  address  this  to  Washington,  where  it  will  be  put  in 
train  to  reach  you.  I  sincerely  hope  it  will  find  you  much 
recruited  by  the  wise  step  which  you  have  taken. 

The  Louisiana  treaty  threw  on  Mr.  Gallatin  a  new  class  of 
duties.  He  had  to  make  all  the  arrangements  not  only  for  pay- 
ment of  the  purchase-money  to  France,  but  for  the  modifications 
of  his  financial  system  which  so  large  and  so  sudden  an  emer- 
gency required.  Fortunately,  Alexander  Baring  was  the  person 
with  whom  he  had  principally  to  deal  in  regard  to  payments, 


318  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1803. 

and  his  relations  with  Mr.  Baring  were  very  friendly ;  so  friendly, 
indeed,  as  to  have  a  decisive  influence,  some  ten  years  later,  in  a 
most  serious  crisis  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  life  and  of  our  national 
history.  With  Mr.  Baring's  assistance  the  business  details  were 
successfully  arranged,  and  it  only  remained  to  adjust  the  new 
burden  of  debt  to  the  national  resources. 

Congress  was  called  together  in  October  on  account  of  the 
Louisiana  business.  It  is  curious  to  notice  how,  in  his  com- 
ments on  this  year's  message,  Mr.  Gallatin  gently  held  the  Pres- 
ident back  from  every  appearance  of  hostility  to  England  and  of 
overwarm  demonstrations  towards  Bonaparte,  and  how  he  still 
talked  of  economies  in  the  Navy  Department  to  supply  some  of 
his  financial  deficiencies,  though  this  resource  was  already  men- 
tioned only  as  a  desirable  possibility.  In  fact,  Congress  was 
about  to  abandon  the  attempt  at  further  economy  in  that  De- 
partment, and  in  order  to  relieve  the  Treasury  the  Mediterranean 
fund  was  now  created  for  naval  expenses.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  to 
look  for  his  resources  elsewhere. 

The  financial  problem  was  to  provide  for  the  new  purchase 
and  its  consequent  expenditure  without  imposing  new  taxes. 
The  point  was  a  delicate  one,  and  was  managed  by  Mr.  Gallatin 
as  follows : 

The  purchase-money  for  Louisiana  was  $15,000,000.  Of  this 
sum,  $11,250,000  was  paid  in  new  six  per  cent,  stock.  There 
was  specie  enough  in  the  Treasury  to  pay  $2,000,000  more; 
and  Mr.  Gallatin  requested  authority  to  borrow  the  remaining 
$1,750,000  at  six  per  cent. 

The  consequent  increase  of  annual  interest  on  the  debt,  in- 
cluding commissions  and  exchange,  he  estimated  at  $800,000. 
To  provide  this  he  counted  on  an  increase  of  revenue  from 
imposts  and  lands,  as  indicated  by  the  returns  for  the  past  year, 
equal  to  $600,000,  and  an  income  of  $200,000  from  Louisiana. 

An  annual  appropriation  of  $700,000  was  to  be  set  aside  for 
the  interest  on  the  $11,250,000  new  stock,  and  added  to  the 
permanent  appropriation  of  $7,300,000 ;  so  that  in  future 
$8,000,000  should  be  annually  applied  to  payment  of  interest 
and  principal  of  the  debt,  thus  preserving  the  ratio  of  reduction 
already  established. 


1803.  THE     TREASUKY.     1801-1813.  319 

Perhaps  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  success  of  Mr.  Gallatin  in 
avoiding  new  taxes  was  rather  apparent  than  real.  Had  he  been 
able  to  carry  out  his  economies  in  the  navy,  he  might  indeed  have 
avoided  taxation,  but  this  was  fairly  proved  impossible,  and  the 
confession  of  a  failure  here  was  only  evaded  by  the  fiction  of 
creating  a  temporary  fund  for  extraordinary  naval  purposes, 
which  allowed  the  supposed  regular  naval  expenditure  to  be 
estimated  at  Mr.  Gallatin's  figures.  This  was  obviously  in  the 
nature  of  a  compromise  between  the  Treasury  and  the  Navy, 
but  it  was  not  the  less  a  real  increase  of  taxation,  and,  as  events 
proved,  a  permanent  increase.  The  capture  of  the  frigate  Phila- 
delphia by  the  Tripolitans  was,  it  is  true,  the  immediate  occasion 
for  this  tax,  but  not  its  cause ;  this  lay  much  deeper,  and,  as  Mr. 
Gallatin's  letters  clearly  show,  was  the  result  of  a  failure  in  the 
attempt  at  economy  in  the  navy. 

Even  at  the  last  hour,  however,  the  Administration  was 
alarmed  by  the  fear  that  Louisiana  might  after  all  be  lost ;  the 
protest  of  Spain  against  the  sale  gave  reason  to  doubt  whether 
she  would  consent  to  surrender  the  province.  Here  again  Mr. 
Gallatin  of  his  own  accord  urged  increased  expenditure,  and 
actively  pressed  the  collection  and  movement  of  troops  to  take 
possession  by  force  if  the  Spanish  government  should  resist. 
Fortunately,  the  alarm  proved  to  be  unnecessary :  Louisiana  was 
promptly  handed  over  to  the  French  official  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  and  by  him  to  General  Wilkinson  and  Governor  Clai- 
borne ;  the  troops  were  stopped  on  their  march  from  Tennessee 
and  ordered  home,  and  all  that  remained  to  be  done  was  to  incor- 
porate the  new  territory  in  the  old,  and  to  settle  its  boundaries 
with  Spain. 

The  process  of  incorporation,  however,  brought  into  prominence 
a  very  serious  constitutional  question,  which  had  already  been 
elaborately  argued  in  the  Cabinet.  Had  the  Constitution  given 
to  the  President  and  Congress  the  right  to  do  an  act  of  this  tran- 
scendent importance,  an  act  which  could  not  but  result  in  immense 
and  incalculable  changes  in  the  relations  between  the  States  who 
were  the  original  parties  to  the  constitutional  compact ;  an  act 
which  could  only  rest  on  a  prodigious  extension  of  the  treaty- 
making  power,  such  as  would  legalize  the  annexation  of  Mexico 


320  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1803. 

or  of  Europe  itself?  Mr.  Jefferson  was  very  strongly  of  opinion 
that  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  could  alone  legalize  the 
act,  and  this  opinion  seems  to  have  been  shared  by  Mr.  Madison 
and  by  the  Attorney-General.  The  tenor  of  Mr.  Gallatin's 
reasoning  as  a  member  of  Congress  in  opposition  certainly  leads 
to  the  inference  that  he  would  take  the  same  side.  His  speeches 
on  the  alien  bill  had  carried  the  doctrine  of  strict  construction 
to  the  verge  of  extravagance.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Gallatin  did 
not  properly  belong  to  the  Virginia  school  of  strict  construc- 
tionists,  and  although,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  he  earnestly 
resisted  the  growth  of  Executive  power,  he  assumed  with  dif- 
ficulty and  with  a  certain  awkwardness  the  tone  of  States'  rights. 
In  this  Louisiana  case  he  wrote  on  the  13th  January,  1803,  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  might  have  been  written,  without 
a  syllable  of  change,  by  Alexander  Hamilton  to  General  Wash- 
ington ten  years  before : 

"  To  me  it  would  appear,  1st.  That  the  United  States  as  a 
nation  have  an  inherent  right  to  acquire  territory. 

"  2d.  That  whenever  that  acquisition  is  by  treaty,  the  same 
constituted  authorities  in  whom  the  treaty-making  power  is 
vested  have  a  constitutional  right  to  sanction  the  acquisition. 

"  3d.  That  whenever  the  territory  has  been  acquired,  Congress 
have  the  power  either  of  admitting  into  the  Union  as  a  new 
State,  or  of  annexing  to  a  State  with  the  consent  of  that  State, 
or  of  making  regulations  for  the  government  of  such  territory. 

"The  only  possible  objection  must  be  derived  from  the  12th 
amendment,  which  declares  that  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States  are  reserved  io 
the  States  or  to  the  people.  As  the  States  are  expressly  prohibited 
from  making  treaties,  it  is  evident  that  if  the  power  of  acquiring 
territory  by  treaty  is  not  considered  within  the  meaning  of  the 
amendment  as  delegated  to  the  United  States,  it  must  be  reserved 
to  the  people.  If  that  be  the  true  construction  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, it  substantially  amounts  to  this,  that  the  United  States  are 
precluded  from  and  renounce  altogether  the  enlargement  of  ter- 
ritory ;  a  provision  sufficiently  important  and  singular  to  have 
deserved  to  be  expressly  enacted.  Is  it  not  a  more  natural  con- 
struction to  say  that  the  power  of  acquiring  territory  is  delegated 


1803.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  321 

to  the  United  States  by  the  several  provisions  which  authorize 
the  several  branches  of  government  to  make  war,  to  make  treaties, 
and  to  govern  the  territory  of  the  Union  ?" l 

Mr.  Jefferson,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  not  convinced  by  this 
reasoning.  He  mildly  replied :  "  I  think  it  will  be  safer  not  to 
permit  the  enlargement  of  the  Union  but  by  amendment  of  the 
Constitution."2  But  the  heresy  spread  into  his  own  Virginia 
church,  and  his  friend  and  confidant  Wilson  Gary  Nicholas 
became  infected  by  it.  In  reply  to  him  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  a 
passionate  appeal :  "  Our  peculiar  security  is  in  the  possession 
of  a  written  Constitution ;  let  us  not  make  it  a  blank  paper  by 
construction."  For  a  time  he  adhered  to  this  view,  and  framed 
an  amendment  to  answer  his  purpose,  but  at  length  he  resigned 
himself  to  committing  the  whole  responsibility  to  Congress,  and 
held  his  peace.  Mr.  Gallatin's  opinion  became  the  accepted 
principle  of  the  party  and  the  ground  on  which  then*  legislation 
was  made  to  rest. 

The  same  fate  attended  Mr.  Jefferson's  vehement  remonstrances 
against  the  establishment  of  a  branch  bank  of  the  United  States 
at  New  Orleans,  an  object  which  Mr.  Gallatin  considered  as  of 
the  highest  importance  and  one  which  he  was  actively  engaged 
in  carrying  into  effect.  Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  wrote  to  him  on 
the  13th  December,  1803,  in  the  strongest  language  against  this 
plan :  "  This  institution  is  one  of  the  most  deadly  hostility  exist- 
ing against  the  principles  and  form  of  our  Constitution.  .  .  . 
What  an  obstruction  could  not  this  bank  of  the  United  States, 
with  all  its  branch  banks,  be  in  time  of  war?  It  might  dictate 
to  us  the  peace  we  should  accept,  or  withdraw  its  aids.  Ought 
we  then  to  give  further  growth  to  an  institution  so  powerful,  so 
hostile?"  And  he  went  on  to  give  his  own  views  as  to  the 
proper  course  for  government  to  follow,  which  was  in  fact 
very  nearly  the  plan  ultimately  realized  in  the  form  of  a  sub- 
treasury.  Mr.  Gallatin,  however,  attached  no  great  weight  to 
these  arguments ;  he  wrote  back  on  the  same  day :  "  I  am  ex- 
tremely anxious  to  see  a  bank  at  New  Orleans ;  considering  the 
distance  of  that  place,  our  own  security  and  even  that  of  the 


1  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  111.  2  Ibid.,  p.  115. 

21 


322  .LI.FE     OF     ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1804. 

collector  will  be  eminently  promoted,  and  the  transmission  of 
moneys  arising  both  from  the  impost  and  sales  of  lands  in  the 
Mississippi  Territory  would  without  it  be  a  very  difficult  and 
sometimes  dangerous  operation.  Against  this  there  are  none  but 
political  objections,  and  those  will  lose  much  of  their  force  when 
the  little  injury  they  can  do  us  and  the  dependence  in  which  they 
are  on  government  are  duly  estimated.  They  may  vote  as  they 
please  and  take  their  own  papers,  but  they  are  formidable  only 
as  individuals  and  not  as  bankers.  Whenever  they  shall  appear 
to  be  really  dangerous,  they  are  completely  in  our  power  and 
may  be  crushed." 

Mr.  Jeiferson  again  yielded,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  procured  the 
passage  of  an  Act  of  Congress  authorizing  the  establishment  of  a 
branch  bank  at  New  Orleans.  Meanwhile  Governor  Claiborne 
had  undertaken  to  establish  a  bank  there  by  his  own  authority. 
When  the  news  of  this  proceeding  reached  Mr.  Gallatin  he  was 
very  angry,  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson  at  once  on  April  12, 1804, 
sharply  condemning  Governor  Claiborne  for  this  unauthorized 
act,  which,  he  added,  "  will  probably  defeat  the  establishment 
of  a  branch  bank  which  we  considered  of  great  importance  to 
the  safety  of  the  revenue  and  as  a  bond  of  union  between  the  At- 
lantic and  Mississippi  interests."  Apparently,  therefore,  Mr.  Gal- 
latin believed  that  he  had  entirely  converted  his  chief;  in  reality 
the  conversion  was  only  one  more  example  of  that  capacity  for 
yielding  his  own  prejudices  to  the  weight  of  his  advisers,  which 
made  Mr.  Jefferson  so  often  disappoint  his  enemies  and  preserve 
the  harmony  of  his  party. 

On  the  whole,  this  third  year  of  the  Administration  closed  not 
less  satisfactorily  than  its  predecessors,  and  Congress  adjourned 
without  anxiety  after  carrying  into  effect  all  the  measures  which 
Mr.  Gallatin  had  at  heart.  So  far  as  he  was  concerned,  hardly 
a  lisp  of  discontent  was  heard,  except,  perhaps,  among  the  fol- 
lowers of  Duane  and  Leib.  By  them  he  was  accused  of  wishing 
to  build  up  a  third  party  by  the  patronage  of  the  Treasury,  a 
charge  which  meant  only  that  he  had  refused  to  put  his  patronage 
at  their  disposal. 

The  summer  again  found  Mr.  Gallatin  at  Washington,  alone, 
discontented,  and  occupied  only  with  the  details  of  Treasury 


1804.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  323 

work.  One  pleasure  indeed  he  had,  and  as  his  acquaintance 
with  Alexander  Baring  was  destined  to  have  no  little  value  to 
him  in  future  life,  so  his  acquaintance  of  this  summer  with 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  was  turned  to  good  account  in  after- 
years.  In  a  letter  to  his  wife  he  gave  an  amusing  account  of 
his  first  impressions  of  Humboldt.  Among  his  correspondents 
of  this  year  there  are  none  whose  letters  seem  to  have  any  per- 
manent value,  unless  one  by  John  Randolph  be  an  exception. 
In  this  there  are  curious  suggestions  of  restlessness  under  the 
sense  of  political  inferiority.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
what  that  opinion  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  was  which  could  induce 
Randolph  to  concur  with  it  so  far  as  to  favor  the  creation  of  a 
navy  to  blow  the  British  cruisers  out  of  water. 


GALLATIN   TO  HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  6th  June,  1804. 

...  I  have  received  an  exquisite  intellectual  treat  from  Baron 
Humboldt,  the  Prussian  traveller,  who  is  on  his  return  from 
Peru  and  Mexico,  where  he  travelled  five  years,  and  from  which 
he  has  brought  a  mass  of  natural,  philosophical,  and  political 
information  which  will  render  the  geography,  productions,  and 
statistics  of  that  country  better  known  than  those  of  most  Eu- 
ropean countries.  We  all  consider  him  as  a  very  extraordinary 
man,  and  his  travels,  which  he  intends  publishing  on  his  return 
to  Europe,  will,  I  think,  rank  above  any  other  production  of 
the  kind.  I  am  not  apt  to  be  easily  pleased,  and  he  was  not 
particularly  prepossessing  to  my  taste,  for  he  speaks  more  than 
Lucas,  Finley,  and  myself  put  together,  and  twice  as  fast  as 
anybody  I  know,  German,  French,  Spanish,  and  English,  all 
together.  But  I  was  really  delighted,  and  swallowed  more  in- 
formation of  various  kinds  in  less  than  two  hours  than  I  had 
for  two  years  past  in  all  I  had  read  or  heard.  He  does  not 
seem  much  above  thirty,  gives  you  no  trouble  in  talking  your- 
self, for  he  catches  with  perfect  precision  the  idea  you  mean  to 
convey  before  you  have  uttered  the  third  word  of  your  sentence, 
and,  exclusively  of  his  travelled  acquirements,  the  extent  of  his 
reading  and  scientific  knowledge  is  astonishing.  I  must  ac- 


324  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1804. 

knowledge,  in  order  to  account  for  my  enthusiasm,  that  he  was 
surrounded  with  maps,  statements,  &c.,  all  new  to  me,  and 
several  of  which  he  has  liberally  permitted  us  to  transcribe. 


JOHN   RANDOLPH   TO   GALLATIN. 

BIZARRE,  14th  October,  1804.     29th  Ind. 

On  my  return  from  Fredericksburg  after  a  racing  campaign, 
I  was  very  agreeably  accosted  by  your  truly  welcome  letter ;  to 
thank  you  for  which,  and  not  because  I  have  anything  (stable 
news  excepted)  to  communicate,  I  now  take  up  the  pen.  It  is 
some  satisfaction  to  me,  who  have  been  pestered  with  inquiries 
that  I  could  not  answer  on  the  subject  of  public  affairs,  to  find 
that  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury  is  in  as  comfortable  a  state  of  ignorance  as  myself. 
Pope  says  of  governments,  that  is  best  which  is  best  adminis- 
tered. What  idea,  then,  could  he  have  of  a  government  which 
was  not  administered  at  all  ?  The  longer  I  live,  the  more  do  I 
incline  to  somebody's  opinion,  that  there  is  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  a  mechanism  of  which  the  very  agents  themselves  are 
ignorant,  and  which,  of  course,  they  can  neither  calculate  nor 
control.  As  much  free  will  as  you  please  in  everything  else, 
but  in  politics  I  must  ever  be  a  necessitarian.  And  this  com- 
fortable doctrine  saves  me  a  deal  of  trouble  and  many  a  twinge 
of  conscience  for  my  heedless  indolence.  I  therefore  leave 
Major  Jackson  and  his  Ex.  of  Casa  Yrujo  to  give  each  other 
the  lie  in  Anglo-American  or  Castilian  fashions,  just  as  it  suits 
them,  and  when  people  resort  to  me  for  intelligence,  instead  of 
playing  the  owl  and  putting  on  a  face  of  solemn  nonsense,  I 
very  fairly  tell  them  with  perfect  nonchalance  that  I  know 
nothing  of  the  matter, — from  which,  if  they  have  any  discern- 
ment, they  may  infer  that  I  care  as  little  about  it, — and  then 
change  the  subject  as  quickly  as  I  can  to  horses,  dogs,  the  plough, 
or  some  other  upon  which  I  feel  myself  competent  to  converse. 
In  short,  I  like  originality  too  well  to  be  a  second-hand  poli- 
tician when  I  can  help  it.  It  is  enough  to  live  upon  the  broken 
victuals  and  be  tricked  out  in  the  cast-off  finery  of  you  first-rate 
statesmen  all  the  winter.  When  I  cross  the  Potomac,  I  leave 


1804.  THE    TKEASURY.     1801-1813.  325 

behind  me  all  the  scraps,  shreds,  and  patches  of  politics  which 
I  collect  during  the  session,  and  put  on  the  plain  homespun,  or 
(as  we  say)  the  "  Virginia  cloth,"  of  a  planter,  which  is  clean, 
whole,  and  comfortable,  even  if  it  be  homely.  Nevertheless,  I 
have  patriotism  enough  left  to  congratulate  you  on  the  fulness 
of  the  public  purse,  and  cannot  help  wishing  that  its  situation 
could  be  concealed  from  our  Sangrados  in  politics,  with  whom 
depletion  is  the  order  of  the  day.  On  the  subject  of  a  navy 
you  know  my  opinion  concurs  with  yours.  I  really  feel  ashamed 
for  my  country,  that,  whilst  she  is  hectoring  before  the  petty 
corsairs  of  the  coast  of  Barbary,  she  should  truckle  to  the  great 
pirate  of  the  German  Ocean ;  and  I  would  freely  vote  a  naval 
force  that  should  blow  the  Cambrian  and  Leander  out  of  water. 
Indeed,  I  wish  Barren's  squadron  had  been  employed  on  that 
service.  I  am  perfectly  aware  of  the  importance  of  peace  to 
us,  particularly  with  Great  Britain,  but  I  know  it  to  be  equally 
necessary  to  her;  and,  in  short,  if  we  have  any  honor  as  a 
nation  to  lose,  which  is  problematical,  I  am  unwilling  to  sur- 
render it. 

On  the  subject  of  Louisiana  you  are  also  apprised  that  my 
sentiments  coincide  with  your  own;  and  it  is  principally  be- 
cause of  that  coincidence  that  I  rely  upon  their  correctness. 
But  as  we  have  the  misfortune  to  differ  from  that  great  political 
luminary,  Mr.  Matthew  Lyon,  on  this  as  well  as  on  most  other 
points,  I  doubt  whether  we  shall  not  be  overpowered.  If  Spain 
be  "fallen  from  her  old  Castilian  faith,  candor,  and  dignity"  it 
must  be  allowed  that  we  have  been  judicious  in  our  choice  of  a 
minister  to  negotiate  with  her;  and  Louisiana,  it  being  presuma- 
ble, partaking  something  of  the  character  which  distinguished  her 
late  sovereign  when  she  acquired  that  territory,  the  selection  of 
a  pompous  nothing  for  a  governor  will  be  admitted  to  have  been 
happy.  At  least,  if  the  appointment  be  not  defensible  upon 
this  principle,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  discover  any  other  tenable  point. 
In  answer  to  your  question  I  would  advise  the  printing  of  ... 
thousand  copies  of  Tom  Paine's  answer  to  their  remonstrance 
and  transmitting  them  by  as  many  thousand  troops,  who  can 
speak  a  language  perfectly  intelligible  to  the  people  of  Louisiana, 
whatever  that  of  their  governor  may  be.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  a 


326  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1804 

little  awkward,  except  in  addresses  and  answers  where  each 
party  is  previously  well  apprised  of  what  the  other  has  to  say, 
that  whilst  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  admiring  Louisianians  are 
filled  with  the  majestic  person  and  sonorous  periods  of  their 
chief  magistrate,  their  understandings  should  be  utterly  vacant. 
If,  however,  they  were  aware  that,  even  if  they  understood 
English,  it  might  be  no  better,  they  would  perhaps  be  more 
reconciled  to  their  situation.  You  really  must  send  something 
better  than  this  mere  ape  of  greatness  to  those  Hispano-Gaulo. 
He  would  make  a  portly  figure  delivering  to  "  my  lords  and 
gentlemen"  a  speech  which  Pitt  had  previously  taught  him ; 
but  we  want  an  automaton,  and  a  puppet  will  not  supply  his 
place. 

Pray  look  to  the  "  ways  and  means"  of  entertainment  for  man 
and  horse  against  the  assembling  of  our  annual  mob.  Here  we 
have  no  bilious  fevers,  and  although  I  shall  enjoy  your  geograph- 
ical treat  I  shall  require  more  substantial  food. 

Because  I  had  nothing  to  say,  I  have  prattled  through  four 
pages;  like  a  quondam  fellow-laborer  of  ours,  who  seemed  to 
speak  not  to  express  his  ideas,  but  to  gain  time  to  acquire 
some. 

The  general  election  of  November,  1804,  proved  the  strength 
of  the  Administration  in  a  more  emphatic  manner  than  even  its 
friends  had  counted  upon.  Mr.  Jefferson  received  an  almost 
unanimous  electoral  vote.  In  Pennsylvania,  however,  there  was 
little  satisfaction  over  the  result ;  the  schism  there  became  more 
and  more  serious,  and  on  the  16th  October,  1804,  Mr.  Dallas 
could  only  write  to  Mr.  Gallatin :  "Thank  Heaven,  our  election 
is  over  !  The  violence  of  Duane  has  produced  a  fatal  division. 
He  seems  determined  to  destroy  the  Republican  standing  and  use- 
fulness of  every  man  who  does  not  bend  to  his  will.  He  has 
attacked  me  as  the  author  of  an  address  which  I  never  saw  till 
it  was  in  the  press.  He  menaces  the  governor.  You  have 
already  felt  his  lash.  And  I  think  there  is  reason  for  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son himself  to  apprehend  that  the  spirit  of  Callender  survives." 

Again  Congress  came  together,  and  for  the  fourth  time  the 
President  was  able  to  draw  a  picture  of  the  political  situation 


1805.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  327 

which  had  few  shadows  and  broad  light.  For  the  fourth  time 
Mr.  Gallatin  sent  in  a  report  which  announced  a  steadily  increas- 
ing revenue,  if  not  a  reduced  expenditure.  He  had  not  yet  made 
use  of  his  authority  to  borrow  the  additional  $1,750,000  of  the 
Louisiana  purchase,  and  hoped  for  a  surplus  that  would  render 
this  loan  unnecessary.  For  the  coming  year  he  estimated  an 
expenditure  of  $11,540,000,  and  a  revenue  of  $11,750,000. 

The  usual  reaction  which  follows  general  elections  followed 
that  of  1804,  and  the  Administration  escaped  attack  in  the  fol- 
lowing session  of  1804-05,  which  was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  trial 
of  Judge  Chase.  Whether  Mr.  Gallatin  had  anything  to  do 
with  influencing  the  result  of  this  trial  is  unknown.  A  curious 
mystery  has  always  hung  and  probably  always  will  hang  over 
the  share  which  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration  had  in  affecting 
the  decision  of  the  Senate  by  which  Judge  Chase  was  acquitted. 
Probably,  however,  the  schism  which  was  taking  place  in  Penn- 
sylvania on  this  same  point  of  impeachments  had  an  immediate 
effect  on  the  party  at  Washington  and  cooled  its  eagerness  for 
conviction.  Perhaps  Mr.  Gallatin's  feelings  may  be  partly 
reflected  in  a  letter  from  his  friend  Mr.  Dallas,  who  was  now 
acting  as  counsel  for  the  impeached  Pennsylvania  judges.  This 
letter,  it  will  be  noticed,  was  written  while  the  trial  of  Judge 
Chase  was  going  on,  and  only  a  few  days  before  Mr.  Dallas  was 
called  to  Washington  to  give  his  testimony  before  the  Senate. 


A.  J.  DALLAS   TO   GALLATIN. 

LANCASTER,  16th  January,  1805. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  thank  you  for  your  friendly  letter,  but  I 
regret  that  it  expresses  a  depression  on  public  business  which  I 
have  long  felt.  It  is  obvious  to  me  that  unless  our  Administra- 
tion take  decisive  measures  to  discountenance  the  factious  spirit 
that  has  appeared,  unless  some  principle  of  political  cohesion  can 
be  introduced  into  our  public  councils  as  well  as  at  our  elections, 
and  unless  men  of  character  and  talents  can  be  drawn  from  pro- 
fessional and  private  pursuits  into  the  legislative  bodies  of  our 
governments,  federal  and  State,  the  empire  of  Republicanism 
will  moulder  into  anarchy,  and  the  labor  and  hope  of  our  lives 


328  LIFE    OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1805. 

will  terminate  in  disappointment  and  wretchedness.  Perhaps 
the  crisis  is  arrived  when  some  attempt  should  be  made  to  rally 
the  genuine  Republicans  round  the  standard  of  reason,  order, 
and  law.  At  present  we  are  the  slaves  of  men  whose  passions 
are  the  origin  and  whose  interests  are  the  object  of  all  their 
actions, — I  mean  your  Duanes,  Cheethams,  Leibs,  &c.  They 
have  the  press  in  their  power,  and,  though  we  may  have  virtue 
to  assert  the  liberty  of  the  press,  it  is  too  plain  that  we  have  not 
spirit  enough  to  resist  the  tyranny  of  the  printers.  We  will  talk 
of  this  matter  when  we  meet. 

.  .  .  The  argument  on  our  impeachment  will  close  to-day,  and 
the  decision  will  probably  be  given  to-morrow  or  Monday.  The 
Aurora  man  has  been  here  during  the  trial,  with  all  his  audacity, 
intrigue,  and  malevolence.  I  think,  however,  he  will  fail.  A 
cause  more  deserving  of  success  than  that  of  the  judges  never  was 
discussed,  and  I  am  confident  that  there  will  be  an  acquittal.  .  .  . 

The  letter  in  which  Mr.  Gallatin  expressed  his  depression  is 
lost,  but  there  was  more  than  one  cause  to  justify  it.  However 
annoying  the  condition  of  Pennsylvania  politics  might  be,  the 
greatest  actual  danger  to  be  feared  from  it  was  that  it  might 
spread  into  national  politics  and  find  leaders  in  Congress.  The 
conduct  of  John  Randolph  already  suggested  an  alliance  between 
him  and  Duane  that  might  paralyze  the  Administration  and  ruin 
the  Republican  party.  This  alliance  was  foreshadowed  not  only 
by  the  fact  that  Randolph  led  the  impeachment  6f  Judge  Chase 
in  the  spirit  of  Duane,  but  also  by  another  still  more  extrava- 
gant display  of  Randolph's  temper  which  touched  Mr.  Gallatin 
personally.  When  the  public  lands  came  under  Mr.  Gallatin's 
direction  in  1801,  he  had  been  obliged  to  disentangle  the  State  of 
Georgia,  as  well  as  he  could,  from  a  complication  which  she  had 
herself  created.  One  element  in  this  tangle  consisted  in  the 
corrupt  sale  by  Georgia  of  certain  lands,  and  her  subsequent 
annulling  these  sales  on  the  ground  of  her  own  corruption. 
The  purchasers  pressed  their  claims,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  with  his 
fellow-commissioners,  Madison  and  Lincoln,  recommended  a 
compromise  by  which  five  million  acres  were  to  be  reserved  in 
order  to  make  a  reasonable  compensation  for  all  claims,  these  as 


1805.  THE    TKEASUKT.     1801-1813.  329 

well  as  others ;  a  proposition  which  was  embodied  by  Congress 
in  a  law.  To  carry  this  compromise  into  effect  was  the  work  of 
ten  years,  during  which  time  the  subject  was  incessantly  before 
Congress.  .  When  it  came  up  in  January,  1805,  John  Randolph 
astounded  the  House  by  a  series  of  speeches  violent  beyond  all 
precedent,  outrageously  and  vindictively  slanderous,  and  fatal  to 
the  harmony  of  the  party  and  to  all  effective  legislation.  With 
the  malignity  of  a  bully  he  attacked  Gideon  Granger,  the  Post- 
master-General, who  could  not  answer  him,  and  he  only  met  his 
match  in  Matthew  Lyon,  whose  old  experience  now,  to  the 
delight  of  the  Federalists,  enabled  him  to  meet  Randolph  with 
a  torrent  of  personal  abuse,  and  to  tell  him  that  he  was  a  jackal 
and  a  madman  with  the  face  of  a  monkey.  All  this  was  doubtr- 
less  vexatious  enough  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  knew  well  that  it 
boded  no  good  to  the  Administration ;  but  Randolph  could  not 
even  stop  here.  He  made  a  very  serious  reflection  upon  Mr. 
Gallatin  himself  and  the  report  of  the  commissioners.  "  When 
I  first  read  their  report/7  said  he,  "  I  was  filled  with  unutterable 
astonishment ;  finding  men  in  whom  I  had  and  still  have  the 
highest  confidence,  recommend  a  measure  which  all  the  facts  and 
all  the  reasons  which  they  had  collected  opposed  and  unequivo- 
cally condemned."  This  speech  was  made  on  February  3, 
1805,  and  the  course  taken  by  Randolph  was  warmly  applauded 
by  Duane. 

Mr.  Gallatin  remained  impassive  and  his  relations  with  Ran- 
dolph were  undisturbed.  Randolph  himself  either  had  no  clear 
idea  what  he  was  doing,  or  was  indifferent  to  its  consequences. 
One  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  written  in  October,  1805,  is 
so  judicial  in  its  tone  and  expresses  such  proper  sentiments 
about  divisions  in  the  party  as  to  appear  quite  out  of  keeping 
with  its  writer  and  to  suggest  dissimulation,  which  was  not  at 
all  in  his  character.  But  on  one  point  the  two  men  had  strong 
sympathies :  their  concurrence  of  opinion  on  the  management  of 
the  navy  was  a  bond  of  union. 

The  summer  of  1805  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  Duane  and 
his  friends  set  up  an  opposition  candidate  to  Governor  McKean 
in  the  person  of  Simon  Snyder,  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  car- 
ried the  bulk  of  the  party  with  them.  Mr.  Dallas  and  the  con- 


330  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LATIN.  1805 

servative  element  were  obliged  to  depend  upon  Federalist  aid  in 
order  to  carry  the  election  of  McKean.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the 
Administration  refrained  from  interference,  and  the  result  was  to 
isolate  Mr.  Gallatin  and  to  deprive  him  of  that  support  in  his 
own  State,  without  which  the  position  of  a  public  man  must 
always  be  precarious.  The  elements  of  future  trouble  were 
gathering  into  alarming  consistency  and  needed  only  some  national 
crisis  to  concentrate  all  their  force  against  Mr.  Gallatin. 

A.  J.  DALLAS   TO   GALLATIN. 

4th  April,  1805. 

.  .  .  The  political  part  of  your  letter  corresponds  precisely 
with  the  ideas  I  entertain  and  have  uniformly  inculcated  on  the 
subject.  The  Aurora  perverts  everything,  however,  that  can  be 
said  or  done.  The  Legislature  adjourns  to-day.  You  have  read 
the  report ;  but  I  fear  it  will  be  followed  by  some  wild,  irregular 
step  after  the  adjournment,  aimed  against  the  Governor  as  well 
as  the  Constitution.  The  evil  of  the  day  has  obviously  proceeded 
from  the  neglect  of  Dr.  Leib's  official  pretensions ;  and  Duane's 
assertions  that  he  possesses  the  confidence  and  acts  at  the  instance 
of  the  President  will  buoy  him  up  on  the  surface  for  some  time 
longer.  While  he  has  influence,  the  State,  the  United  States,  will 
never  enjoy  quiet.  I  hope  therefore,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  expect,  that  his  present  machinations  will  be  exposed  and 
defeated  as  a  prelude  to  his  fall.  .  .  . 

JOHN   RANDOLPH   TO   GALLATIN. 

BIZARRE,  June  28,  1805. 

...  I  do  not  understand  your  manoeuvres  at  headquarters, 
nor  should  I  be  surprised  to  see  the  Navy  Department  abolished, 
or,  in  more  appropriate  phrase,  swept  by  the  board,  at  the  next 
session  of  Congress.  The  nation  has  had  the  most  conclusive  proof 
that  a  head  is  no  necessary  appendage  to  the  establishment.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

WASHINGTON,  25th  October,  1805. 

.  .  .  Whilst  the  Republicans  opposed  the  Federalists  the 
necessity  of  union  induced  a  general  sacrifice  of  private  views 


1805.  THE    TEEASUEY.     1801-1813.  331 

and  personal  objects ;  and  the  opposition  was  generally  grounded 
on  the  purest  motives  and  conducted  in  the  most  honorable  man- 
ner. Complete  success  has  awakened  all  those  passions  which 
only  slumbered.  In  Pennsylvania  particularly  the  thirst  for 
offices,  too  much  encouraged  by  Governor  McKean's  first  meas- 
ures, created  a  schism  in  Philadelphia  as  early  as  1802.  Leib, 
ambitious,  avaricious,  envious,  and  disappointed,  blew  up  the 
flame,  and  watched  the  first  opportunity  to  make  his  cause  a 
general  one.  The  vanity,  the  nepotism,  and  the  indiscretion  of 
Governor  McKean  afforded  the  opportunity.  Want  of  mutual 
forbearance  amongst  the  best  intentioned  and  most  respectable 
Republicans  has  completed  the  schism.  Duane,  intoxicated  by 
the  persuasion  that  he  alone  had  overthrown  Federalism,  thought 
himself  neither  sufficiently  rewarded  nor  respected,  and,  possessed 
of  an  engine  which  gives  him  an  irresistible  control  over  public 
opinion,  he  easily  gained  the  victory  for  his  friends.  I  call  it 
victory,  for  the  number  of  Republicans  who  have  opposed  him 
rather  than  supported  McKean  does  not  exceed  one-fourth,  or  at 
most  one-third,  of  the  whole;  and  McKean  owes  his  re-election 
to  the  Federalists.  What  will  be  the  consequence  I  cannot  even 
conjecture.  My  ardent  wishes  are  for  mutual  forgiveness  and  a 
reunion  of  the  Republican  interest ;  but  I  hardly  think  it  prob- 
able. MoKean  and  Duane  will  be  both  implacable  and  immov- 
able, and  the  acts  of  the  first  and  the  continued  proscriptions  of 
the  last  will  most  probably  and  unfortunately  defeat  every  attempt 
to  reconcile.  Yet  I  do  not  foresee  any  permanent  evil  beyond 
what  arises  from  perpetual  agitation  and  from  that  party  spirit 
which  encourages  personal  hatred ;  but  the  intolerance  and  per- 
secution which  we  abhorred  in  Federalism  will  be  pursued  by  the 
prevailing  party  till  the  people,  who  do  not  love  injustice,  once 
more  put  it  down. 

JOHN   RANDOLPH   TO   GALLATIN. 

BIZARRE,  October  25,  1805. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  very  acceptable  letter  reached  me  this 
morning,  and  I  hasten  to  return  you  my  thanks  for  it  and  to 
answer  your  very  friendly  inquiries  after  my  health.  It  is  much 
better  than  it  has  been  for  some  months;  so  much  so  that  I  pro- 


332  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIK  1805. 

pose  braving  another  winter  at  Washington.  I  do  assure  you, 
however,  that  I  look  forward  to  the  ensuing  session  of  Congress 
with  110  very  pleasant  feelings.  To  say  nothing  of  the  disad- 
vantages of  the  place,  natural  as  well  as  acquired,  I  anticipate  a 
plentiful  harvest  of  bickering  and  blunders ;  of  which,  however, 
I  hope  to  be  a  quiet,  if  not  an  unconcerned,  spectator. 

It  is  a  great  comfort  to  me  to  find  that  we  entirely  agree  as  to 
the  causes  of  disunion  in  Pennsylvania.  I  have  no  interest  in 
their  local  squabbles,  except  so  far  as  they  may  affect  the  Union 
at  large.  In  that  point  of  view  I  have  regretted  the  divisions 
of  the  Republican  party  in  that  great  and  leading  State,  well 
knowing  that  whichever  side  prevailed,  Federalism  must  thereby 
acquire  a  formidable  accession  of  strength.  It  now  remains  to 
be  seen  whether  there  is  temper  and  good  sense  enough  left 
among  them  to  heal  their  animosities,  or  whether,  as  to  Penn- 
sylvania at  present  and  speedily  throughout  the  Union,  we  must 
acknowledge  the  humiliating  position  of  our  adversaries,  "  that 
the  Republicans  do  not  possess  virtue  and  understanding  enough 
to  administer  the  government."  Perhaps  the  reconciliation  which 
I  speak  of  is  more  to  be  desired  than  hoped.  Wiser  heads  and 
those  better  acquainted  with  the  particular  circumstances  of  the 
case  than  mine  must  determine  whether  this  is  to  be  effected  by 
an  act  of  mutual  amnesty  and  oblivion,  or  by  expelling  in  the 
first  instance  the  rogues  on  both  sides.  That  such  there  are  is 
self-evident;  though  who  they  are  is  a  much  more  difficult 
question.  Unconnected  as  I  am  in  that  quarter,  yourself  ex- 
cepted,  it  appears  from  what  I  can  gather  that  there  has  been 
no  want  of  indiscretion,  intemperance,  and  rashness  on  either 
side.  If  the  vanquished  party  have  exceeded  in  these,  it  has 
been  amply  counterbalanced  by  dereliction  of  principle  in  the 
victors.  I  speak  of  chieftains.  As  to  the  body  of  the  people, 
their  intentions  are  always  good,  since  it  can  never  be  their  in- 
terest to  do  wrong.  Whilst  you  in  Pennsylvania  have  been 
tearing  each  other  to  pieces  about  a  governor,  we  in  Virginia, 
who  can  hardly  find  any  one  to  accept  our  throne  of  the  Mah- 
rattas,  have  been  quietly  taking  the  goods  the  gods  have  provided 
us ;  enjoying  the  sports  of  the  turf  and  the  field.  Which  has 
the  better  bargain,  think  you  ? 


1805.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  333 

...  I  regret  exceedingly  Mr.  Jefferson's  resolution  to  retire, 
and  almost  as  much  the  premature  annunciation  of  that  deter- 
mination. It  almost  precludes  a  revision  of  his  purpose,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  intrigues  which  it  will  set  on  foot.  If  I  were 
sure  that  Monroe  would  succeed  him,  my  regret  would  be  very 
much  diminished.  Here,  you  see,  the  Virginian  breaks  out; 
but,  like  the  Prussian  cadet,  "  I  must  request  you  not  to  make 
this  known  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

A.  J.  DALLAS    TO    GALLATIN. 

21st  December,  1805. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — In  perfect  confidence  I  tell  you  that  Gov- 
ernor McK.  has  pressed  me  to  accept  the  office  of  chief  justice. 
This  I  have  peremptorily  declined.  But  I  believe  he  means  to 
appoint  the  present  Attorney-General  to  that  office ;  and  I  am 
again  pressed  to  say  whether  I  will  accept  the  commission  of 
Attorney-General.  It  is  an  office  more  lucrative,  less  troublesome, 
and  infinitely  less  responsible  than  the  one  I  hold.  There  are 
considerations,  however,  that  make  me  pause.  I  am  disgusted 
with  the  fluctuation  of  our  politics,  with  the  emptiness  of  party 
friendships,  and  with  the  influence  of  desperate  and  violent  men 
upon  our  popular  and  legislative  movements  in  the  State  business. 
I  had  determined  never  to  think  of  State  dependence.  At  this 
time,  too,  when  the  thunders  of  the  Aurora  are  daily  rolling 
over  my  head ;  when  it  is  publicly  asserted  that  I  have  lost  the 
personal  and  political  confidence  of  the  Administration;  a  resig- 
nation would  be  perverted  into  a  dismissal,  and  my  succession 
to  the  office  of  Attorney-General  would  increase  the  clamors 
against  Governor  McKean.  In  this  dilemma  I  repose  myself 
on  your  friendship  for  information  and  advice.  I  do  not  want 
either  office,  but  I  am  shocked  at  the  idea  of  incurring  the  least 
disgrace  under  the  sanction  of  an  Administration  which  has  had 
all  my  attachment  and  all  my  services.  Tell  me,  therefore,  what 
I  ought  to  do  by  the  return  of  the  post.  I  do  not  wish  you  to 
enter  into  any  detail  of  the  grounds  of  your  opinion,  but  let  the 
opinion  be  explicit,  and,  if  you  please,  let  it  be  the  result  of  a 
consultation  with  our  friend  Robert  Smith. 


334  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1805. 

Meanwhile,  the  fate  of  the  Administration  became  every  day 
more  visibly  involved  in  the  management  of  foreign  affairs. 
Mr.  Jefferson's  theory,  that  the  belligerents  would  not  make 
him  swallow  so  much  as  they  had  forced  down  the  throats  of 
his  predecessors,  was  rapidly  becoming  more  than  questionable. 
England  blockaded  our  ports  and  impressed  our  seamen ;  Spain 
refused  to  carry  out  her  pledges  of  indemnification  for  illegal 
seizures  of  our  ships,  insisted  upon  limiting  our  Louisiana  pur- 
chase to  a  mere  strip  of  territory  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  was  supported  by  France  in  doing  so.  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  at  this  time  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  could  balance 
one  belligerent  against  another  and  could  force  Spain  to  recede 
by  throwing  himself  into  the  arms  of  England. 

Under  these  circumstances,  on  the  7th  August,  1805,  he  called 
upon  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  for  their  written  opinions  on 
the  course  to  be  pursued  towards  Spain.  Mr.  Gallatin's  reply, 
dated  September  12,1  is  a  very  interesting  paper,  covering  the 
whole  ground  of  discussion,  and  composed  in  a  spirit  of  judicial 
fairness  towards  Spain  very  unusual  in  American  state  papers. 
Acting  on  his  invariable  theory  of  American  interests,  he  dis- 
suaded from  war,  and  urged  continued  negotiation  even  if  it 
only  resulted  in  postponing  a  rupture.  To  gain  time  was  with 
him  to  gain  everything;  after  the  year  1809  the  redemption  of 
debt  would  have  gone  so  far  that  $3,500,000  would  be  annually 
available,  out  of  the  §8,000,000  fund,  for  other  purposes ;  adding 
the  savings  and  preparations  of  these  three  years  and  the  inter- 
mediate growth  of  the  country,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  show- 
ing the  importance  of  preserving  peace.  But  perhaps  the  most 
curious  part  of  this  paper  is  that  in  which  Mr.  Gallatin  accepts 
the  doctrine  of  a  navy ;  after  explaining  that  he  could  count  on 
a  probable  annual  surplus  of  $2,000,000,  he  went  on  to  deal 
with  its  application : 

"  It  is  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  that  surplus  will  be 
applied  to  the  formation  of  a  navy;  and  if  Congress  shall  decide 
in  favor  of  that  measure,  I  would  suggest  that  the  mode  best 
calculated,  in  my  opinion,  to  effect  it,  and  so  impress  other 

1  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  241. 


1805.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  335 

nations  that  we  are  in  earnest  about  it,  would  be  a  distinct  Act 
enacted  for  that  sole  purpose,  appropriating  for  a  fixed  number 
of  years  (or  for  as  many  years  as  would  be  sufficient  to  build  a 
determinate  number  of  ships  of  the  line)  a  fixed  sum  of  money, 
say  one  million  of  dollars  annually,  .  .  .  the  money  to  be  ex- 
clusively applied  to  the  building  of  ships  of  the  line,  for  there 
would  still  be  a  sufficient  surplus  to  add  immediately  a  few 
frigates  to  our  navy.  .  .  .  Whether  the  creation  of  an  efficient 
navy  may  not,  by  encouraging  wars  and  drawing  us  in  the  usual 
vortex  of  expenses  and  foreign  relations,  be  the  cause  of  greater 
evils  than  those  it  is  intended  to  prevent,  is  not  the  question 
which  I  mean  to  discuss.  This  is  to  be  decided  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  nation,  and  although  I  have  been  desirous  that 
the  measure  might  at  least  be  postponed,  I  have  had  no  doubt 
for  a  long  time  that  the  United  States  would  ultimately  have  a 
navy.  It  is  certain  that,  so  long  as  we  have  none,  we  must 
perpetually  be  liable  to  injuries  and  insults,  particularly  from 
the  belligerent  powers  when  there  is  a  war  in  Europe ;  and  in 
deciding  for  or  against  the  measure  Congress  will  fairly  decide 
the  question,  whether  they  think  it  more  for  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  to  preserve  a  pacific  and  temporizing  system,  and 
to  tolerate  those  injuries  and  insults  to  a  great  extent,  than  to 
be  prepared,  like  the  great  European  nations,  to  repel  every 
injury  by  the  sword." 

This  seems  to  have  been  sound  Federalist  doctrine  so  far  as  it 
went.  Time  and  the  growth  of  natural  resources  were  gradually 
bringing  Mr.  Gallatin  to  a  point  not  much  behind  the  last  Ad- 
ministration ;  had  the  Navy  been  in  the  hands  of  a  stronger  man 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  appropriation  offered  by  Mr.  Gallatin 
might  now  have  been  carried  through  Congress,  but  even  in 
making  the  proposition  Mr.  Gallatin  showed  his  sense  of  Mr. 
Robert  Smith's  capacity  by  insisting  that  the  money  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  commissioners.  To  judge  from  John 
Randolph's  expressions,  he  was  at  this  time  of  the  same  opinion 
with  Mr.  Gallatin,  both  in  regard  to  the  navy  and  its  Secretary. 

But  Mr.  Jefferson's  views,  never  heartily  turned  towards  strong 
measures,  soon  changed.  On  the  23d  October,  1805,  he  wrote  to 
Mr.  Gallatin  that  there  was  no  longer  any  occasion  for  a  hasty 


336  LIFE     OF     ALBEET    GALL  AT  IN.  1805. 

decision ;  the  European  war  was  certain  to  continue.  "  We  may 
make  another  effort  for  a  peaceable  accommodation  with  Spain 
without  the  danger  of  being  left  alone  to  cope  with  both  France 
and  Spain."  And  he  closed  by  propounding  an  entirely  new 
proposition :  "  Our  question  now  is  in  what  way  to  give  Spain 
another  opportunity  of  arrangement.  Is  not  Paris  the  place? 
France  the  agent  ?  The  purchase  of  the  Floridas  the  means  ?" 

If  there  was  anything  in  this  rapid  change  of  front  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Jefferson  that  argued  vacillation  of  mind,  it  still 
amounted  to  the  adoption  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  views,  and  he  seems 
to  have  so  regarded  it.  Unfortunately,  when  Mr.  Jefferson 
undertook  to  carry  out  his  new  policy  he  attempted  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  concealing  it  under  the  cover  of  the  old  one ;  he 
wished,  in  other  words,  to  combine  the  advantages  of  a  war 
policy  with  those  of  a  peace  policy,  and  to  escape  the  conse- 
quences of  both,  so  far  as  risks  were  concerned.  The  success  of 
the  Louisiana  purchase,  two  years  before,  now  led  him  to  repeat 
the  experiment;  the  scheme  in  his  mind  was  intended  to  be  a 
close  imitation  of  the  course  which  had  resulted  in  obtaining 
Louisiana ;  Spain  was  partly  to  be  frightened,  partly  to  be  bribed, 
into  the  sale  of  Florida. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  notes  on  the  message  of  this  year  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  it  showed  in  the  original  draft  more  inconsistency 
than  in  its  ultimate  form.  Mr.  Jefferson  spoke  of  war  as  prob- 
able, and  recommended  preparation  for  it, — organization  of  the 
militia,  gun-boats,  and  land-batteries;  he  even  gave  a  strong 
hint  that  he  was  ready  to  build  ships  of  the  line;  yet  at  the  same 
time  he  recommended  the  abandonment  of  the  Mediterranean 
Fund  which,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  pointed  out,  was  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  the  purchase  of  Florida  on  their  own  scheme,  or  to  im- 
pose upon  Spain  a  sense  of  their  being  in  earnest  about  war.1 
After  thorough  revision  the  message  was  at  last  made  to  suit  its 
double  purpose,  and  was  sent  in. 

This,  however,  was  only  the  beginning.  The  plan  of  opera- 
tions was  intended  to  be  an  exact  repetition  of  that  which  had 
been  followed  in  the  Louisiana  case, — a  public  message  to  be 

1  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  263. 


1805.  THE    TEEASUEY.     1801-1813.  337 

followed  by  a  secret  one,  public  resolutions  to  be  adopted  by  the 
House,  and  a  confidential  report  and  appropriation.  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  advised  this  course  as  the  one  already  settled  by  precedent, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  set  to  work  drafting  the  public  resolutions  which 
were  to  be  adopted  by  the  House  and  to  impose  upon  Spain. 

The  President's  first  draft1  met  with  little  success;  indeed, 
it  was  open  to  ridicule,  and  both  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Joseph 
H.  Nicholson  remonstrated.  Mr.  Jefferson  accordingly  made 
what  he  called  a  revised  edition  ;2  but  there  was  a  serious  dif- 
ficulty in  the  task  itself,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  on  December  3, 
1805,  to  Mr.  Jefferson:  "The  apparent  difficulty  in  framing 
the  resolutions  arises  from  the  attempt  to  blend  the  three  objects 
together.  The  same  reasons  which  have  induced  the  President 
to  send  two  distinct  messages,  render  it  necessary'  that  the  public 
resolutions  of  Congress  should  be  distinct  from  the  private  ones ; 
those  which  relate  to  the  war-posture  of  the  Spanish  affairs, 
which  are  intended  to  express  the  national  sense  on  that  subject, 
and  to  enable  the  President  to  take  the  steps  which  appear  im- 
mediately necessary  on  the  frontier,  should  not  be  mixed  with 
those  proceedings  calculated  only  to  effect  an  accommodation." 

There  was,  however,  a  more  serious  difficulty,  on  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  did  not  dwell ;  the  Administration  was  not  in  earnest. 
He  had  himself  already  pointed  out  what  should  be  done  if  war 
were  really  contemplated.  Half  a  dozen  ships  of  the  line,  a  few 
more  frigates,  and  'some  regiments  for  the  regular  army  were  the 
only  measures  which  Spain  would  respect.  It  is  true  that  this 
policy  would  have  been  merely  a  repetition  of  that  pursued  by 
the  last  Administration  towards  France,  but  that  policy  had  at 
least  not  been  feeble.  Mr.  Jefferson  should  not  have  taken  a 
"  war  posture"  unless  he  was  ready  to  do  so  with  vigor. 

The  confidential  message  was  sent  in  on  the  6th  December, 
1805,  three  days  after  the  annual  message.  Its  object  as  under- 
stood by  Mr.  Gallatin  was  "  to  inform  Congress  that  France 
being  disposed  to  favor  an  arrangement,  the  present  moment 
should  not  be  lost,  but  that  the  means  must  be  supplied  by  Con- 
gress. It  is  also  intended  to  say  that  in  the  mean  while,  and  in 

1  G-allatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  277.  2  Ibid.,  p.  281. 

22 


338  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1805. 

order  to  promote  an  arrangement,  force  should  be  interposed  to 
a  certain  degree.  ...  To  the  tenor  of  the  message  itself  I  have 
but  one  objection :  that  it  does  not  explicitly  declare  the  object 
in  view,  and  may  hereafter  be  cavilled  at  as  having  induced  Con- 
gress into  a  mistaken  opinion  of  that  object.  For  although  the 
latter  end  of  the  third  paragraph  is  expressed  in  comprehensive 
terms,  yet  the  omission  of  the  word  Florida  may  lead  to  error ; 
nor  does  the  message  convey  the  idea  that  in  order  to  effect  an 
accommodation  a  much  larger  sum  of  money  will  probably  be 
requisite  than  had  been  contemplated." 

The  President  had  now  carried  out  his  part  of  the  project. 
Both  the  public  and  secret  messages  were  before  the  House ;  it 
remained  for  the  House  to  echo  back  the  wishes  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, and  on  this  score  Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  have  felt 
no  alarm,  for  he  supposed  himself  to  be  asking  merely  an  exact 
repetition  of  action  taken  only  two  years  before  in  the  Louisiana 
case.  John  Randolph  had  done  then  precisely  what  he  was 
expected  to  do  now.  Mr.  Gallatin,  on  the  7th  December,  wrote 
a  note  to  Mr.  Nicholson,  and  put  the  matter  of  the  President's 
resolutions  in  his  hands.  John  Randolph  called  on  the  President 
the  same  day  and  made  an  appointment  with  him  for  a  conver- 
sation the  next  morning.  He  has  himself  given  an  account  of 
this  interview.  Full  explanations  were  made  to  him,  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  seems  to  have  told  him  with  perfect  frankness  all  the 
views  of  the  Administration.  There  was  in  fact,  so  far  as  Con- 
gress was  concerned,  nothing  to  conceal. 

"  He  then  learned,"  according  to  his  account  published  under 
the  signature  of  Deems,  in  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  the  follow- 
ing August,  "  not  without  some  surprise,  that  an  appropriation 
of  two  millions  was  wanted  to  purchase  Florida.  He  told  the 
President  without  reserve  that  he  would  never  agree  to  such  a 
measure,  because  the  money  had  not  been  asked  for  in  the  mes- 
sage ;  that  he  could  not  consent  to  shift  upon  his  own  shoulders 
or  those  of  the  House  the  proper  responsibility  of  the  Executive; 
but  that  even  if  the  money  had  been  explicitly  demanded  he 
should  have  been  averse  to  granting  it,  because,  after  the  total 
failure  of  every  attempt  at  negotiation,  such  a  step  would  dis- 
grace us  forever." 


1806.  THE     TREASURY.      1801-1813.  339 

This  opposition  of  Mr.  Kandolph  endangered  the  whole 
scheme.  Mr.  Nicholson,  who  was  second  on  the  committee,  was 
a  close  friend  of  Randolph,  and  more  or  less  influenced  by  him, 
while  the  other  members  friendly  to  the  Administration  wanted 
the  weight  necessary  to  overbalance  the  chairman.  Nevertheless 
it  was  impossible  to  recede.  After  waiting  till  the  21st  Decem- 
ber for  Randolph  to  act,  Mr.  Nicholson  seems  to  have  interposed 
and  in  a  manner  obliged  him  to  meet  the  committee.  "As  they 
were  about  to  assemble,"  says  Decius, "  the  chairman  (Randolph) 
was  called  aside  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  with  whom 
he  retired,  and  who  put  into  his  hands  a  paper  headed  '  Provision 
for  the  purchase  of  Florida/  As  soon  as  he  had  cast  his  eyes 
on  the  title  the  chairman  declared  that  he  would  not  vote  a  shil- 
ling. The  Secretary  interrupted  him  by  observing,  with  his 
characteristic  caution,  that  he  did  not  mean  to  be  understood  as 
recommending  the  measure,  but,  if  the  committee  should  deem 
it  advisable,  he  had  devised  a  plan  for  raising  the  necessary 
supplies,  as  he  had  been  requested  or  directed  in  that  case  to 
do.  The  chairman  expressed  himself  disgusted  with  the  whole 
of  the  proceeding,  which  he  could  not  but  consider  as  highly 
disingenuous." 

Not  until  January  3, 1806,  did  the  committee  report,  and  then 
its  report  provided  only  for  a  "  war  posture,"  and  not  for  pur- 
chase. The  House  now  proceeded  in  secret  session  to  debate  the 
message,  and  then  at  last  Mr.  Randolph  flung  his  bomb  into  the 
midst  of  his  friends  and  followers.  Seizing  with  considerable 
dexterity,  but  with  extravagant  violence,  the  really  weak  point 
in  Mr.  Jefferson's  message,  he  assailed  the  Administration,  or  at 
least  its  foreign  policy,  with  the  fury  of  a  madman.  The  whole 
Administration  phalanx  was  thrown  into  disorder  and  embittered 
to  exasperation ;  the  whole  effect  proposed  from  the  negotiation 
was  destroyed  in  advance ;  but  the  government  was  obliged  to 
go  on,  and  at  last  its  propositions,  in  spite  of  Randolph,  were 
carried  through  Congress. 

Although  the  actual  struggle  took  place  in  secret  session,  Ran- 
dolph lost  no  time  in  making  his  attack  public,  and  it  very  soon 
became  evident  that  the  true  object  of  his  hostility  was  Mr. 
Madison.  On  the  5th  March,  in  debating  the  non-importation 


340  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1806. 

policy,  he  began  a  violent  assault  by  asserting  that  he  had  asked 
the  Administration,  "  What  is  the  opinion  of  the  Cabinet  ?  .  .  . 
My  answer  was  (and  from  a  Cabinet  minister,  too), '  There  is  no 
longer  any  Cabinet.' "  On  the  15th,  he  developed  this  suggestion 
into  a  rhetorical  panegyric  upon  Mr.  Gallatin  at  the  expense  of 
Mr.  Madison ;  he  told  how  certain  despatches  from  Europe  had 
arrived  at  the  State  Department  in  December,  and  how  Mr. 
Gallatin,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  had  told  him  at  a  later  time 
that  the  contents  of  these  despatches  had  not  yet  been  communi- 
cated to  the  Cabinet :  "  It  was  when  I  discovered  that  the  head 
of  the  second  department  under  the  government  did  not  know 
they  were  in  existence,  much  less  that  his  opinion  on  them  had 
not  been  consulted,  that  I  declared  what  I  repeat,  that  there  is 
no  Cabinet.  You  have  no  Cabinet !  What,  the  head  of  the 
Treasury  Department, — a  vigorous  and  commanding  statesman, 
a  practical  statesman,  the  benefit  of  whose  wisdom  and  experience 
the  nation  fondly  believes  it  always  obtained  before  the  great 
measures  of  the  government  are  taken, — unacquainted  with  and 
unconsulted  on  important  despatches, — and  yet  talk  of  a  Cabinet ! 
Not  merely  unconsulted,  but  ignorant  of  the  documents.  ...  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  there  is  no  Cabinet,  when  I  see  a 
man  second  to  none  for  vigorous  understanding  and  practical 
good  sense  ousted  from  it." 

The  movement  was  an  insidious  one,  calculated  to  sow  distrust 
between  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Madison;  but  to  judge  from  the 
tone  of  Mr.  Randolph's  letters,  even  as  far  back' as  June,  1803, 
it  was  an  understood  fact  with  him  and  with  Mr.  Gallatin  that 
the  Administration  wanted  cohesion  and  co-operation,  and  it  ap- 
pears clearly  enough  that  at  least  so  far  as  the  Navy  Department 
was  concerned,  Mr.  Gallatin  made  this  a  subject  of  repeated  re- 
monstrance to  the  President  himself,  although  he  never  made 
complaint  against  Mr.  Madison,  and,  as  his  correspondence 
shows,  he  was  fully  in  harmony  with  the  foreign  policy  pur- 
sued.1 That  he  agreed  with  Randolph  in  considering  the  Presi- 
dent too  lax  in  discipline  seems  certain. 

Mr.  Gallatin  did  what  he  could  to  correct  the  impression  thus 

1  Cf.  Jefferson  to  Wirt,  3d  May,  1811.     Jefferson's  Writings,  vol.  v.  p.  593. 


1806.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  341 

given,  and  Randolph  was  obliged  ultimately  to  withdraw  his 
assertion,  or  at  least  essentially  to  qualify  it ;  but  this  seems  to 
have  irritated  him  into  making  another  similar  attack  on  the 
7th  April,  immediately  after  withdrawing  the  former  one :  "  I 
wish/7  said  he,  "  the  heads  of  departments  had  seats  on  this  floor. 
Were  this  the  case,  to  one  of  them  I  would  immediately  propound 
this  question :  Did  you  or  did  you  not,  in  your  capacity  of  a 
public  functionary,  tell  me,  in  my  capacity  of  a  public  functionary, 
that  France  would  not  suffer  Spain  to  settle  her  differences  with 
us,  that  she  wanted  money,  that  we  must  give  her  money  or  take 
a  Spanish  or  French  war?  ...  I  would  put  this  question  to 
another  head  of  department:  Was  or  was  not  an  application 
made  to  you  for  money  to  be  conveyed  to  Europe  to  carry  on 
any  species  of  diplomatic  negotiation  there  ?  I  would  listen  to  his 
answer,  and  if  he  put  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  like  a  man  of 
honor  said,  No !  I  would  believe  him,  though  it  would  require  a 
great  stretch  of  credulity.  I  would  call  into  my  aid  faith,  not 
reason,  and  believe  where  I  was  not  convinced." 

At  the  moment  this  was  said,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  on  the  floor  of 
the  House,  and  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Virginia,  at  once  asked  him 
whether  it  was  true  that  such  an  application  was  made.  He 
replied  that  it  was  not,  and  explained  how  the  mistake  arose. 
Mr.  Jackson  immediately  took  the  floor  and  repeated  his  words, 
characterizing  the  charge  that  Mr.  Madison  had  attempted  to 
draw  money  out  of  the  Treasury  without  the  authority  of  law,  as 
"  destitute  of  truth  and  foundation, — mark  the  expression ;  I  say 
it  is  destitute  of  truth,"  evidently  courting  a  quarrel.  He  took 
care,  however,  to  relieve  Mr.  Gallatin  of  responsibility  for  these 
words,  while,  in  order  to  establish  the  fact  of  denial,  he  caused  a 
resolution  of  inquiry  to  be  adopted  by  the  House,  which  pro- 
duced a  categorical  reply  from  Mr.  Gallatin,  "that  no  '  applica- 
tion has  been  made  to  draw  money  from  the  Treasury  before  an 
appropriation  made  by  law  for  that  purpose.7  The  circumstances 
which  may  have  produced  an  impression  that  such  an  application 
had  been  made,  being  unconnected  with  any  matter  pertaining  to 
the  duties  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  are  not  pre- 
sumed to  come  within  the  scope  of  the  information  required  from 
this  Department  by  the  House." 


342  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALL  ATI  N.  1806. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Gallatin  had  already  taken  measures  to  correct 
at  its  source  the  error  to  which  Mr.  Randolph  was  giving  cur- 
rency.1 It  appears  that  in  explaining  the  wishes  of  the  govern- 
ment to  two  New  York  members,  George  Clinton,  Jr.,  and  Josiah 
Masters,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  found  them  sceptical  in  regard  to  the 
propriety  of  the  proposed  action  of  Congress,  and,  in  order  to 
convince  them  that  the  President  and  Cabinet  were  in  earnest 
and  really  anxious  for  the  appropriation,  he  said  that  so  anxious 
were  they  as  to  have  actually  had  a  discussion  in  Cabinet,  before 
Congress  met,  whether  they  might  not  promise  in  the  negotiation 
to  pay  a  sum  down  without  waiting  for  action  from  Congress;  so 
anxious  were  they  that  Mr.  Madison,  although  the  bill  was  not 
yet  fairly  passed,  though  certain  to  pass  within  less  than  a  week, 
had  already  requested  Mr.  Gallatin  to  buy  exchange.2  This  con- 
versation, repeated  by  Mr.  Masters,  and  coming  to  the  ears  of 
John  Eandolph,  produced  his  solemn  inquiry  meant  to  imply 
that  Mr.  Madison  had  approached  Mr.  Gallatin  with  a  proposi- 
tion to  take  money  illegally  from  the  Treasury,  and  that  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  repelled  the  idea.  What  made  this  notion  more 
absurd  was  that  the  first  proposition  was  not  Mr.  Madison's,  but 
came  from  Mr.  Jefferson;  only  by  jumbling  the  two  facts 
together  and  recklessly  disregarding  every  means  of  better  in- 
forming himself,  had  Randolph  succeeded  in  dragging  Mr. 
Madison  into  the  field  at  all. 

This  official  denial  and  private  correction  of  the  story,  after- 
wards made  public  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  from  'the  New  York 
member  to  his  constituents,  seem  to  be  sufficient  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  all  parties.  Still,  the  innuendo  of  Randolph  was  com- 
promising to  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  was  made  the  theme  of  long- 
continued  attacks  upon  him.  Five  years  afterwards,  when  Mr. 
Madison  was  President  and  Gallatin  was  in  sore  need  of  sup- 
port, Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  William  Wirt  a  letter  warmly 
defending  him  in  this  matter  as  in  others.  He  said,  in  taking 
up  one  by  one  the  charges  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  been  a  party 

1  Letter  to  George  Clinton,  Jr.,  dated  5th  April,  1806.  Writings,  vol.  i. 
p.  295. 

2  Gallatin's  Writings,  Endorsement  on  letter  of  G-.  Clinton,  Jr.,  vol.  i. 
p.  298. 


1806.  .,    THE    TEEASUEY.     1801-1813.  343 

to  Randolph's  opposition :  "  But  the  story  of  the  two  millions ; 
Mr.  Gallatin  satisfied  us  that  this  affirmation  of  J.  E.  was  as 
unauthorized  as  the  fact  itself  was  false.  It  resolves  itself,  there- 
fore, into  his  inexplicit  letter  to  a  committee  of  Congress.  As  to 
this,  my  own  surmise  was  that  Mr.  Gallatin  might  have  used 
some  hypothetical  expression  in  conversing  on  that  subject,  which 
J.  R.  made  a  positive  one,  and  he  being  a  duellist,  and  Mr.  Gal- 
latin with  a  wife  and  children  depending  on  him  for  their  daily 
subsistence,  the  latter  might  wish  to  avoid  collision  and  insult 
from  such  a  man." 

There  are  occasions  when  defence  is  worse  than  attack.  If 
Mr.  Jefferson  thought  that  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  wanted 
the  moral  courage  to  speak  out  at  the  risk  of  personal  danger, 
there  is  no  more  to  be  said  so  far  as  concerns  Mr.  Jeiferson ; 
but  in  regard  to  Mr.  Gallatin  the  suggestion  seems  to  be  com- 
pletely set  aside  by  two  considerations :  in  the  first  place,  the 
question  put  by  Randolph  was  not  founded,  nor  even  alleged  to 
be  founded,  on  his  own  conversations  with  Mr.  Gallatin,1  and 
therefore  not  he,  but  Mr.  Masters  alone,  had  the  right  to  call 
Mr.  Gallatin  to  account;  in  the  second  place,  Mr.  Gallatin's 
letter  was  very  explicit  on  one  point,  and  that  to  a  duellist  the 
essential  one ;  it  flatly  and  categorically  contradicted  Randolph's 
charge,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  Mr.  Randolph 
might  not  have  founded  a  challenge  on  that  contradiction  as 
well  as  on  any  other  had  he  felt  that  the  occasion  warranted  a 
duel. 

The  truth  is  that  Mr.  Randolph  at  this  time  might  have 
fought  as  many  duels  as  there  were  days,  had  he  wished  to  do 
so.  Bitter  as  his  tongue  was,  there  were  men  enough  who  were 
not  afraid  either  of  it  or  of  his  pistols.  Mr.  Gallatin,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  anxious  that,  if  possible,  Randolph  should  not 
be  outlawed.  Until  March,  1807,  at  all  events,  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  Ways  and  Means,  and  Mr.  Gallatin's  relations  with 
him  must  be  maintained.  More  than  this,  there  was  absolutely 
no  other  member  on  the  Administration  side  of  the  House  who 


1  See  "  Decius,  II.,"  Eichmond  Enquirer,  November,  1806,  republished 
in  the  Aurora  for  25th  November,  1806. 


344  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1800 

had  the  capacity  to  take  the  place  of  leader.  Even  in  October, 
1807,  when  Randolph  was  at  last  dethroned,  it  was,  as  will  be 
seen,  much  against  Mr.  Gallatin's  will,  and,  as  he  well  knew, 
much  to  the  risk  of  public  interest  and  his  own  comfort.  He 
would  rather  have  continued  to  tolerate  Randolph  than  to  trust 
the  leadership  of  the  House  in  the  hands  of  incompetent  men. 

Nevertheless,  this  conduct  of  Mr.  Randolph  necessarily  broke 
up  the  confidence  existing  between  him  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  and 
although  Randolph  was  never  one  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  declared 
enemies,  but,  on  the  contrary,  always  spoke  of  him  as  "  that 
great  man, — for  great  let  me  call  him," l  their  intimacy  ceased 
from  this  time.  In  July,  1807,  Randolph  wrote  to  Joseph  H. 
Nicholson :  "  I  have  no  communication  with  the  great  folks. 
Gallatin  used  formerly  to  write  to  me,  but  of  late  our  intercourse 
has  dropped.  I  think  it  is  more  than  two  years  since  I  was  in 
his  house.  How  this  has  happened  I  can't  tell,  or  rather  I  can, 
for  I  have  not  been  invited  there."  The  loss  was  all  the  more 
serious  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  because  at  this  same  moment  Joseph  H. 
Nicholson  left  the  House  to  accept  a  seat  on  the  bench,  and 
thus  the  two  members  on  whom  he  had  most  depended  were 
beyond  his  reach.  A  corresponding  loss  of  personal  influence 
was  inevitable ;  but  this  was  not  all ;  the  Aurora,  while  shrewdly 
avoiding  direct  support  of  Randolph's  defection,  made  use  of  Ran- 
dolph's assertions  to  charge  Mr.  Gallatin  with  what  amounted  to 
treason  against  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  at  last  Mr.  Jefferson  himself 
had  to  interpose  to  reassure  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the 
following  letter : 

JEFFERSON   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  October  12,  1806. 

DEAR  SIR, — You  witnessed  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Ad- 
ministration the  malignant  and  long-continued  efforts  which  the 
Federalists  exerted  in  their  newspapers  to  produce  misunder- 
standing between  Mr.  Madison  and  myself.  These  failed  com- 
pletely. A  like  attempt  was  afterwards  made  through  other 


1  See  .Randolph's  speeches  in  Congress  of  May  26,  1812,  and  15th  April, 
1824. 


1800.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  345 

channels  to  effect  a  similar  purpose  between  General  Dearborn 
and  myself,  but  with  no  more  success.  The  machinations  of 
the  last  session  to  put  you  at  cross-questions  with  us  all  were  so 
obvious  as  to  be  seen  at  the  first  glance  of  every  eye.  In  order 
to  destroy  one  member  of  the  Administration,  the  whole  were 
to  be  set  to  loggerheads  to  destroy  one  another.  I  observe  in 
the  papers  lately  new  attempts  to  revive  this  stale  artifice,  and 
that  they  squint  more  directly  towards  you  and  myself.  I  can- 
not, therefore,  be  satisfied  till  I  declare  to  you  explicitly  that 
my  affection  and  confidence  in  you  are  nothing  impaired,  and 
that  they  cannot  be  impaired  by  means  so  unworthy  the  notice 
of  candid  and  honorable  minds.  I  make  the  declaration  that 
no  doubts  or  jealousies,  which  often  beget  the  facts  they  fear, 
may  find  a  moment's  harbor  in  either  of  our  minds.  I  have 
so  much  reliance  on  the  superior  good  sense  and  candor  of  all 
those  associated  with  me  as  to  be  satisfied1  they  will  not  suffer 
either  friend  or  foe  to  sow  tares  among  us.  Our  Administration 
now  drawing  towards  a  close,  I  have  a  sublime  pleasure  in  be- 
lieving it  will  be  distinguished  as  much  by  having  placed  itself 
above  all  the  passions  which  could  disturb  its  harmony,  as  by 
the  great  operations  by  which  it  will  have  advanced  the  well- 
being  of  the  nation. 

Accept  my  affectionate  salutations  and  assurances  of  my  con- 
stant and  unalterable  respect  and  attachment. 


GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  13th  October,  1806. 

DEAR  SIB, — In  minds  solely  employed  in  honest  efforts  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  a  free  people  there  is  but  little  room  left 
for  the  operation  of  those  passions  which  engender  doubts  and 
jealousies.  That  you  entertained  none  against  me  I  had  the 
most  perfect  conviction  before  I  received  your  note  of  yesterday. 
Of  your  candor  and  indulgence  I  have  experienced  repeated 
proofs ;  the  freedom  with  which  my  opinions  have  been  delivered 
has  been  always  acceptable  and  approved,  even  when  they  may 
have  happened  not  precisely  to  coincide  with  your  own  view  of 
the  subject  and  you  have  thought  them  erroneous.  But  I  am  not 


346  LIFE    OF    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1806. 

the  less  sensible  of  your  kindness  in  repeating  at  this  juncture 
the  expression  of  your  confidence.  If  amongst  the  authors  of 
the  animadversions  to  which  you  allude  there  be  any  who  believe 
that  in  my  long  and  confidential  intercourse  with  Republican 
members  of  Congress,  that  particularly  in  my  free  communica- 
tions of  facts  and  opinions  to  Mr.  Randolph,  I  have  gone  beyond 
what  prudence  might  have  suggested,  the  occasion  necessarily  re- 
quired, or  my  official  situation  strictly  permitted,  those  who  are 
impressed  with  such  belief  must  be  allowed  to  reprove  the  indis- 
cretion, and  may  perhaps  honestly  suspect  its  motive.  For  those 
having  charged  me  with  any  equivocation,  evasion,  or  the  least 
deviation  from  truth  in  any  shape  whatever,  I  cannot  even  frame 
an  apology.  And,  without  cherishing  resentment,  I  have  not  the 
charity  to  ascribe  to  purity  of  intention  the  Philadelphia  attacks, 
which  indeed  I  expect  to  see  renewed  with  additional  virulence 
and  a  total  disregard  for  truth.  I  am,  however,  but  a  secondary 
object,  and  you  are  not  less  aware  than  myself  that  the  next 
Presidential  election  lurks  at  the  bottom  of  those  writings  and 
of  the  Congressional  dissensions.  [To  you  my  wish  may  be  ex- 
pressed that  whenever  you  shall  be  permitted  to  withdraw,  the 
choice  may  fall  on  Mr.  Madison,  as  the  most  worthy  and  the 
most  capable.  But  I  know  that  on  that  point,  as  well  as  on  all 
others  which  relate  to  elections,  no  Executive  officer  ought  to 
interfere].1 

Much  more,  however,  do  I  lament  the  injury  which  the  Re- 
publican cause  may  receive  from  the  divisions  amongst  its  friends 
in  so  many  different  quarters.  Sacrificing  the  public  good  and 
their  avowed  principles  to  personal  views,  to  pride  and  resent- 
ment, they  afford  abundant  matter  of  triumph  to  our  opponents; 
they  discredit  at  all  events,  and  may  ultimately  ruin,  the  cause 
itself.  But  if  we  are  unable  to  control  the  conflicting  passions 
and  jarring  interests  which  surround  us,  they  will  not  at  least 
affect  our  conduct.  The  Administration  has  no  path  to  pursue 
but  to  continue  their  unremitted  attention  to  the  high  duties  en- 
trusted to  their  care,  and  to  persevere  in  their  efforts  to  preserve 
peace  abroad,  and  at  home  to  improve  and  invigorate  our  repub- 

1  Omitted  in  final  draft. 


1806.  THE    TKEASURY.      1801-1813.  347 

lican  institutions.  The  most  important  object  at  present  is  to 
arrange  on  equitable  terms  our  differences  with  Spain.  That 
point  once  accomplished,  your  task  shall  have  been  satisfactorily 
completed,  and  those  you  have  associated  in  your  labors  will  be 
amply  rewarded  by  sharing  in  the  success  of  your  Administra- 
tion. From  no  other  source  can  any  of  them  expect  to  derive 
any  degree  of  reputation. 

With  sincere  respect  and  grateful  attachment. 

GALLATIN   TO   MARIA   NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  October  27,  1806. 

.  .  .  I  had  seen  the  piece  in  the  "  Enquirer"  to  which  you  allude 
before  I  left  New  York.  To  be  abused  and  misunderstood  by 
political  friends  of  worth  is  not  pleasant,  but  the  great  question  in 
all  those  things  is :  Did  you  perform  your  duty,  and  did  you,  as  far 
as  you  were  able,  promote  the  public  good  ?  For,  worldly  as  you 
think  me,  rest  assured  that,  however  I  may  prize  public  opinion, 
it  is  not  there  that  I  seek  for  a  reward.  I  suspect — but  that  is 
solely  between  ourselves — that  some  friends  of  John  Randolph, 
mortified  at  his  conduct  and  still  more  at  its  effect  on  his  conse- 
quence, would  wish  to  throw  the  blame  of  his  excesses  on  me ; 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  a  weak  friend  of  the  President  has 
felt  hurt  that  my  opinions  had  not  in  every  particular  coincided 
with  the  President's.  To  those  joint  causes  I  ascribe  the  Vir- 
ginia attack.  Mr.  Jefferson,  thinking  that  I  might  be  hurt  by 
it,  wrote  me  the  enclosed  letter.  ...  It  affords  additional  proof 
of  the  goodness  of  his  heart,  and  shows  that  he  is  much  above 
all  those  little  squabbles.  .  .  . 

In  order  to  follow  out  to  its  conclusion  this  long  story  of 
John  Randolph's  schism,  it  has  been  necessary  to  leave  the 
larger  questions  of  public  interest  far  behind.  Whatever  mis- 
statements  of  fact  Randolph  may  have  made,  his  opinion  on  one 
point  was  indubitably  correct :  Mr.  Jefferson's  Spanish  policy  in 
1805-6  was  feeble,  and  it  was  a  failure.  It  was  feeble  not 
because  it  proposed  the  purchase  of  Florida  from  France  or 
from  Spain,  but  because  it  threatened  war  without  backing  its 


348  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIK  1806. 

threats  by  real  force.  The  situation  in  regard  to  England  was 
no  better.  To  the  very  serious  questions  of  impressments,  of 
the  annual  blockade  of  New  York,  and  of  the  lawless  proceed- 
ings of  the  British  ships  of  war,  was  now  added  the  settled 
determination  on  the  part  of  England  to  stop  the  prodigious 
increase  of  American  commerce  which  threatened  to  ruin  the 
shipping  interests  of  Great  Britain.  For  this  purpose  an  old 
rule  of  the  war  of  1756  was  revived,  and  the  American  ship- 
ping engaged  in  the  hitherto  legal  trade  of  carrying  West  India 
produce  from  the  United  States  to  Europe  was  suddenly  swept 
into  British  ports  and  condemned.  All  the  resistance  that  Mr. 
Madison  could  offer  was  a  pamphlet, — convincing  enough  as 
to  the  right,  but  not  equally  so  as  to  the  power,  of  the  United 
States.  Congress,  however,  reinforced  it  by  a  non-importation 
act,  and  Mr.  Monroe  and  William  Pinkney  were  appointed  a 
special  commission  to  negotiate. 

Meanwhile,  the  affairs  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  own  Department 
had  suffered  no  check  or  misfortune.  His  report  of  December, 
1805,  showed  that  the  revenue  had  risen  high  above  its  highest 
previous  mark,  to  $12,672,000,  which,  with  the  produce  of  the 
Mediterranean  Fund  and  of  the  land  sales,  carried  the  receipts 
of  the  government  nearly  to  $14,000,000.  The  surplus  in  the 
Treasury,  after  meeting  all  the  regular  expenditures  and  navy 
deficiencies,  French  claims,  and  the  $1,750,000  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  for  which  a  loan  had  been  authorized,  would  still  ex- 
ceed one  million  dollars  on  a  reasonable  estimate.  The  reduction 
of  debt  had  already  reached  that  point  at  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  obliged  to  pause  and  impress  upon  Congress  the  idea  that  a 
new  class  of  duties  lay  before  them ;  four  years  more  of  the 
application  of  his  system  would  pay  off  all  the  debt  that  was 
susceptible  of  immediate  payment ;  the  rest  could  be  redeemed 
only  by  purchase,  or  by  waiting  until  the  law  permitted  its 
redemption.  "  Should  circumstances  render  it  eligible,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  revenue  now  appropriated  for  that  pur- 
pose [payment  of  debt]  may  then,  in  conformity  with  existing 
provisions,  be  applied  to  other  objects." 

The  following  year,  1806,  was  still  more  prosperous.  The 
regular  revenue  exceeded  $13,000,000;  the  receipts  altogether 


1806.  THE    TEEASUBY.     1801-1813.  349 

had  reached  the  sum  of  $14,500,000 ;  the  two  millions  appro- 
priated for  purchasing  Florida  had  been  supplied  out  of  surplus 
and  sent  abroad;  the  Tripolitan  war  was  over;  a  surplus  of 
$4,000,000  was  left  in  the  Treasury;  and  only  three  years 
remained  before  the  day  when  some  disposition  must  be  made 
of  the  excess  of  revenue. 

So  far  as  the  mere  financial  arrangements  for  this  event  were 
concerned,  Mr.  Gallatin  took  them  himself  in  charge.  He  aban- 
doned at  once  the  salt  tax,  which  produced  about  $500,000,  and 
he  proposed  to  continue  the  Mediterranean  Fund  only  one  year 
longer.  At  the  same  time  he  procured  the  passage  of  an  Act 
authorizing  him  to  convert  the  unredeemed  amount  of  the  old 
six  per  cent,  deferred  stock,  representing  a  capital  of  about 
$32,000,000,  and  the  three  per  cents,  (about  $19,000,000),  into 
a  six  per  cent,  stock,  redeemable  at  six  months7  notice.  The 
inducements  offered  to  the  holders  are  explained  in  Mr.  Galla- 
tin's  letter  of  20th  January,  1806,1  to  John  Randolph,  chairman 
of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee. 

The  greater  measures  of  public  policy  which  were  to  crown 
the  edifice  of  republican  government,  and  to  realize  all  those 
ideal  benefits  to  humanity  which  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  friends 
aimed  at,  fell  of  necessity  and  properly  to  the  President's  charge. 
Nowhere  in  all  the  long  course  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  great  career 
did  he  appear  to  better  advantage  than  when  in  his  message  of 
1806  he  held  out  to  the  country  and  the  world  that  view  of  his 
ultimate  hopes  and  aspirations  for  national  development,  which 
was,  as  he  then  trusted,  to  be  his  last  bequest  to  mankind. 
Having  now  reached  the  moment  when  he  must  formally  an- 
nounce to  Congress  that  the  great  end  of  relieving  the  nation 
from  debt  was  at  length  within  reach,  and  with  it  the  duty  of 
establishing  true  republican  government  was  fulfilled,  he  paused 
to  ask  what  use  was  to  be  made  of  the  splendid  future  thus 
displayed  before  them.  Should  they  do  away  with  the  taxes  ? 
Should  they  apply  them  to  the  building  up  of  armies  and  navies? 
Both  relief  from  taxation  and  the  means  of  defence  might  be 
sufficiently  obtained  without  exhausting  their  resources,  and  still 


1  State  Papers,  Finance,  ii.  p.  212. 


350  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1807. 

the  great  interests  of  humanity  might  be  secured.  These  great 
interests  were  economical  and  moral ;  to  supply  the  one,  a  system 
of  internal  improvement  should  be  created  commensurate  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  country ;  "  by  these  operations  new  chan- 
nels of  communication  will  be  opened  between  the  States,  the 
lines  of  separation  will  disappear,  their  interests  will  be  identi- 
fied, and  their  union  cemented  by  new  and  indissoluble  ties." 
To  provide  for  the  other,  the  higher  education  should  be  placed 
among  the  objects  of  public  care;  "a  public  institution  can 
alone  supply  those  sciences  which,  though  rarely  called  for,  are 
yet  necessary  to  complete  the  circle,  all  the  parts  of  which  con- 
tribute to  the  improvement  of  the  country  and  some  of  them  to 
its  preservation."  A  national  university  and  a  national  system 
of  internal  improvement  were  an  essential  part,  and  indeed  the 
realization  and  fruit,  of  the  republican  theories  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  and  his  associates  put  in  practice  as  their  ideal  of 
government. 

In  this  path  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Gallatin  went  hand  in 
hand.  The  former,  indeed,  thought  an  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution necessary  in  order  to  bring  these  objects  within  the 
enumerated  powers  of  the  government,  while  Mr.  Gallatin,  here, 
as  in  regard  to  the  bank  and  the  Louisiana  purchase,  found  no 
difficulty  on  that  score ;  but  Mr.  Jefferson  looked  forward  to  the 
adoption  of  such  an  amendment  before  the  three  years'  interval 
had  elapsed,  and  in  the  mean  while  Mr.  Gallatin  was  actually 
putting  his  schemes  into  operation.  The  first  report  of  the  com- 
missioners appointed  to  lay  out  the  Cumberland  Eoad,  from  the 
Potomac  to  the  Ohio,  was  laid  before  Congress  in  January,  1807. 
A  month  later  Congress  passed  the  act  under  which  the  coast 
survey  was  authorized,  and  appropriated  $50,000  to  carry  it  into 
effect.  A  few  weeks  afterwards,  Senator  Worthington,  of  Ohio, 
one  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  closest  friends,  caused  a  resolution  to  be 
adopted  directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  prepare  and 
report  to  the  Senate  a  general  scheme  of  internal  improvement. 

Few  persons  have  now  any  conception  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  scheme  thus  originated.  The  university  was  but  a  trifle, 
which  Mr.  Gallatin  was  ready  to  take  upon  his  shoulders  at  once 
without  waiting  for  other  resources  than  he  already  had.  He 


1807.  THE     TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  351 

seemed  to  have  a  passion  for  organization.  The  land  system, 
the  sinking  fund  system,  the  Cumberland  Koad,  the  coast  survey, 
were  all  in  his  hands,  and  were,  if  not  exclusively  yet  essentially, 
organized  by  him.  He  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  creation 
of  a  new  scheme,  in  comparison  with  which  all  the  others  were 
only  fragments  and  playthings.  His  report  on  internal  improve- 
ments was  sent  in  to  the  Senate  on  the  12th  of  April,  1808,  after 
a  year's  preparation.  It  presented  a  plan  the  mere  outlines  of 
which  can  alone  find  place  here. 

According  to  this  sketch,  the  projected  improvements  were 
classified  under  the  following  heads : 

I.  Those  parallel  with  the  sea-coast,  viz.,  canals  cutting  Cape 
Cod,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  North  Carolina,  so  as  to  make 
continuous  inland  navigation  along  the  coast  to  Cape  Fear,  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  $3,000,000;  and  a  great  turnpike  road  from 
Maine  to  Georgia,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $4,800,000. 

II.  Those  that  were  to  run  east  and  west,  viz.,  improvement 
of  the  navigation  of  four  Atlantic  rivers,  the  Susquehanna,  the 
Potomac,  the  James,  and  the  Santee,  and  of  four  corresponding 
western  rivers,  the  Alleghany,  the  Monongahela,  the  Kanawha, 
and  the  Tennessee,  to  the  highest  practicable  points,  at  an  esti- 
mated cost  of  $1,500,000;  and  the  connection  of  these  highest 
points  of  navigation  by  four  roads  across  the  Appalachian  range, 
at  an  estimated  cost  of  $2,800,000 ;  and  finally,  a  canal  at  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio,  $300,000,  and  improvement  of  roads  to  Detroit, 
St.  Louis,  and  New  Orleans,  $200,000. 

III.  Those  that  were  to  run  north  and  northwest  to  the  lakes, 
viz.,   to   connect   the   Hudson   River   with   Lake   Champlain, 
$800,000  ;  to  connect  the  Hudson  River  with  Lake-  Ontario  at 
Oswego  by  canal,  $2,200,000;   a  canal  round  Niagara  Falls, 
$1,000,000. 

IV.  Local  improvements,  $3,400,000. 

The  entire  estimated  expense  was  $20,000,000  ;  by  an  appro- 
priation of  $2,000,000  a  year  the  whole  might  be  accomplished 
in  ten  years ;  by  a  system  of  selling  to  private  parties  the  stock 
thus  created  by  the  government  for  turnpikes  and  canals,  the 
fund  might  be  made  itself  a  permanent  resource  for  further 
improvements. 


352  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1807. 

Naturally  the  improvements  thus  contemplated  were  so  laid 
out  as  to  combine  and  satisfy  local  interests.  The  advantage 
which  Mr.  Gallatin  proposed  to  gain  was  that  of  combining 
these  interests  in  advance,  so  that  they  should  co-operate  in  one 
great  system  instead  of  wasting  the  public  resources  in  isolated 
efforts.  He  wished  to  fix  the  policy  of  government  for  at  least 
ten  years,  and  probably  for  an  indefinite  time,  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  internal  improvements,  as  he  had  already  succeeded  in 
fixing  it  in  regard  to  the  payment  of  debt.  By  thus  establishing 
a  complete  national  system  to  be  executed  by  degrees,  the  whole 
business  of  annual  chaffering  and  log-rolling  for  local  appropri- 
ations in  Congress,  and  all  its  consequent  corruptions  and  incon- 
sistencies, were  to  be  avoided. 

Nor  did  Mr.  Gallatin  in  making  these  propositions  overlook 
the  pressing  necessity  of  providing  for  the  national  defence.  His 
anticipated  surplus  exceeded  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  he  in- 
tended that  while  two  millions  were  annually  set  aside  for  inter- 
nal improvements,  the  other  three  millions  should  be  applied 
simultaneously  for  arsenals,  magazines,  and  fortifications,  or,  if 
desired,  for  building  a  navy,  while  even  from  a  military  point 
of  view  the  proposed  roads  and  canals  were  as  essential  as  arms, 
forts,  or  ships  to  national  defence.  In  one  respect,  however, 
Mr.  Gallatin  differed  rather  widely  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  this 
difference  of  opinion  concerned  a  cardinal  point  of  the  President's 
policy.  The  famous  gun-boat  scheme,  which  seems  to  have  been 
the  creation  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  took  shape 
during  the  winter  of  1806-7,  in  a  special  message,  dated  Feb- 
ruary 10,  which  recommended  the  immediate  building  of  two 
hundred  gun-boats.  When  the  draft  of  this  message  was  sent 
to  Mr.  Gallatin  for  his  criticisms,  he  wrote  that  he  was  "  clearly 
of  opinion"  there  was  no  necessity  for  building  so  many  of  these 
vessels,  and  he  urged  that  the  seventy-three  already  in  course  of 
construction  were  more  than  enough  in  a  time  of  peace.  "  Of 
all  the  species  of  force  which  war  may  require, — armies,  ships 
of  war,  fortifications,  and  gun-boats, — there  is  none  which  can 
be  obtained  in  a  shorter  notice  than  gun-boats,  and  none  there- 
fore that  it  is  less  necessary  to  provide  beforehand.  I  think  that 
within  sixty  days,  perhaps  half  the  time,  each  of  the  seaports 


1807.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  353 

of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  might  build 
and  fit  out  thirty,  and  the  smaller  ports  together  as  many,  espe- 
cially if  the  timber  was  prepared  beforehand.  But  beyond  that 
preparation  I  would  not  go,  for  exclusively  of  the  first  expense 
of  building  and  the  interest  of  the  capital  thus  laid  out,  I  appre- 
hend that,  notwithstanding  the  care  which  may  be  taken,  they 
will  infallibly  decay  in  a  given  number  of  years,  and  will  be  a 
perpetual  bill  of  costs  for  repairs  and  maintenance." J 

Mr.  Jefferson's  reply  to  this  argument  will  be  found  in  his 
letter  of  February  9,  1807,  to  Mr.  Gallatin.  When  he  fairly 
mounted  a  hobby-horse  he  rode  it  over  all  opposition,  and,  of  all 
hobby-horses,  gun-boats  happened  at  this  time  to  be  his  favorite. 
He  insisted  that  the  whole  two  hundred  must  be  built,  for  five 
reasons:  1.  Because  they  could  not  be  built  in  two,  or  even  in 
six,  months.  2.  Because,  in  case  of  war,  the  enemy  would  de- 
stroy them  on  the  stocks  in  New  York,  Boston,  Norfolk,  or  any 
seaport.  3.  "The  first  operation  of  war  by  an  enterprising 
enemy  would  be  to  sweep  all  our  seaports  of  their  vessels  at 
least."  4.  The  expense  of  their  preservation  would  be  nothing. 
5.  The  expense  of  construction  would  be  less  than  supposed.2 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  great  man,  and  like  other  great  men  he 
occasionally  committed  great  follies,  yet  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life  he  ever  wrote  anything 
much  more  absurd  than  this  letter.  When  war  came,  each  of 
his  three  former  reasons  was  shown  to  be  an  error,  and  long 
before  the  war  arrived,  his  two  concluding  reasons  were  contra- 
dicted by  facts.  These  letters  were  written  in  February,  1807. 
In  June,  1809,  barely  two  years  later,  the  then  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Paul  Hamilton,  reported  that  176  gun-boats  had  been 
built,  of  which  24  only  were  in  actual  service.  The  aggregate 
expense  to  that  date  had  been  $1,700,000,  or  about  $725,000 
a  year;  while  the  reader  will  remember  that  the  whole  navy 
expenditure  for  1807  was  $1,722,000,  and  in  1808  nearly 
$1,900,000,  against  the  modest  $650,000  which  had  been  agreed 
upon  at  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration.  Any 
one  who  is  curious  to  see  how  far  Mr.  Gallatin's  opinion  as  to 

1  Gallatin's  Writings,  i.  330.  2  Jefferson's  Writings,  v.  42. 

23 


354  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  ATI  N.  1807 

the  "  perpetual  bill  of  eo^ts  for  repairs"  was  correct,  may  refer 
to  Paul  Hamilton's  letter  of  June  6,  1809,  to  the  Senate  com- 
mittee.1 Had  all  this  expenditure  improved  the  national  de- 
fences, the  waste  of  money  would  have  seemed  less  outrageous 
even  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  was  its  chief  victim ;  but,  as  most  naval 
officers  expected,  the  gun-boats  were  in  some  respects  positively 
mischievous,  in  others  of  very  little  use,  and  they  were  easily 
destroyed  by  the  enemy  whenever  found.  At  the  end  of  the  war 
such  of  them  as  were  not  already  captured,  burned,  wrecked,  or 
decayed  were  quietly  broken  up  or  sold.2 

Friends  and  enemies  have  long  since  agreed  that  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's gun-boats  were  a  grievous  mistake.  How  decidedly  Mr. 
Gallatin  remonstrated  against  the  development  given  to  this 
policy,  may  be  seen  in  the  letter  of  which  a  portion  has  been 
quoted.  He  strongly  urged  that  no  more  gun-boats  should  be 
built  till  they  were  wanted,  and  he  begged  Mr.  Jefferson  to  let 
Congress  decide  whether  they  were  wanted  or  not.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son did  not  take  the  advice,  and,  as  usual,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  the 
one  to  suffer  for  the  mistakes  of  his  chief;  the  gun-boats  lasted 
long  enough  to  give  him  great  trouble  and  to  be  one  of  the 
principal  means  of  bankrupting  the  Treasury  even  before  the 
war;  unfortunately,  he  had  exhausted  his  strength  in  com- 
plaints of  the  Navy  Department;  he  had  spoken  again  and 
again  in  language  which  for  him  was  without  an  example;  in 
the  present  instance  he  had  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  for  his  strongest 
opponent,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  submit. 

With  this  exception,  one  merely  of  detail  and  judgment,  Mr. 
Gallatin  seems  to  have  cordially  supported  the  comprehensive 
scheme  which  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  pointed  out 
to  Congress  as  the  goal  of  its  long  pilgrimage.  Six  years  of 
frugality  and  patience  had,  as  it  conceived,  fixed  beyond  question 
the  republicanism  of  national  character,  established  a  political 
system  purely  American,  and  sealed  this  result  by  reducing  the 
national  debt  until  its  ultimate  extinction  was  in  full  view.  To 
fix  the  future  course  of  the  republican  system  thus  established 


1  State  Papers,  xiv.  194. 

2  Under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  February  27,  1815. 


1807.  THE     TEEASUKY.     1801-1813.  355 

was  a  matter  of  not  less  importance,  was  perhaps  a  matter  of 
much  greater  difficulty,  than  the  task  already  accomplished.  To 
make  one  comprehensive,  permanent  provision  for  the  moral 
and  economical  development  of  the  people,  to  mark  out  the  path 
of  progress  with  precision  and  to  enter  upon  it  at  least  so  far  as 
to  make  subsequent  advance  easy  and  certain,  this  was  the  high- 
est statesmanship,  the  broadest  practical  philanthropy.  For  this 
result  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  the  ripened  wisdom  of  his  full  manhood, 
might  fairly  say  that  his  life  had  been  well  spent. 

For  a  time  he  saw  the  prize  within  his  grasp ;  then  almost 
in  an  instant  it  was  dashed  away,  and  the  whole  fabric  he  had  so 
laboriously  constructed  fell  in  ruins  before  his  eyes.  That  such  a 
disaster  should  have  overwhelmed  him  at  last  was  neither  his 
fault  nor  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson;  it  was  the  result  of  forces  which 
neither  he  nor  any  other  man  or  combination  of  men,  neither  his 
policy  nor  any  other  policy  or  resource  of  human  wisdom,  could 
control.  In  the  midst  of  the  great  crash  with  which  the  whole 
structure  of  Mr,  Jefferson's  Administration  toppled  over  and 
broke  to  pieces  in  its  last  days,  there  is  ample  room  to  criticise 
and  condemn  the  theories  on  which  he  acted  and  the  measures 
which  he  used,  but  few  critics  would  now  be  bold  enough  to  say 
that  any  policy  or  any  measure  could  have  prevented  that  disaster. 

The  story  is  soon  told.  Mr,  Monroe  and  Mr.  William  Pink- 
ney,  appointed  as  a  special  commission  to  negotiate  with  the 
government  of  Great  Britain,  began  their  labors  in  July,  1806. 
They  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  the  British  government  in 
friendly  hands,  for  they  happened  to  fall  upon  the  short  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Fox,  With  much  difficulty  they  negotiated  a  treaty 
which  was  signed  on  the  last  day  of  the  year.  This  treaty  was 
doubtless  a  bad  treaty ;  not  so  bad  as  that  of  Mr.  Jay,  but  still 
very  unsatisfactory,  and,  what  was  worse,  the  British  government, 
by  a  formal  -note  appended  to  it,  reserved  the  right  to  render  it 
entirely  nugatory  if  the  United  States  did  not  satisfy  Great 
Britain  that  she  would  resist  the  maritime  decrees  of  France. 
Whether,  under  these  circumstances,  the  treaty  was  worth  accept- 
ing, is  doubtful ;  whether  Mr.  Jefferson  erred  in  insisting  upon 
modifications  of  it,  may  be  a  question.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Ad- 
ministration concurred  in  sending  it  back  to  England  for  essential 


356  LITE      OF    ALBEET     GALL  AT  IN.  1807. 

changes,  and  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  undaunted  by  his  previous  fail- 
ure to  influence  France  by  fear  of  his  alliance  with  England, 
now  expected  to  control  England  by  fear  of  his  alliance  with 
France.  "  It  is  all-important  that  we  should  stand  on  terms  of 
the  strictest  cordiality"  with  France,  he  wrote  to  Paris  in  an- 
nouncing  his  treatment  of  the  British  treaty ;  but  this  cordiality 
was  to  go  no  further  than  friendly  favors.  "  I  verily  believe/' 
he  wrote  at  the  same  time,1  "  that  it  will  ever  be  in  pur  power  to 
keep  so  even  a  stand  between  England  and  France  as  to  inspire 
a  wish  in  neither  to  throw  us  into  the  scale  of  his  adversary.77 

Never  did  a  man  deceive  himself  more  miserably,  for  even  while 
he  wrote  these  lines  the  government  of  England  was  reverting 
to  its  policy  of  crushing  the  commercial  growth  of  America. 
Mr.  Fox  was  dead;  a  new  Administration  had  come  into  power, 
strongly  retrograde  in  policy,  and  with  George  Canning  for 
its  soul.  Whatever  the  errors  or  faults  of  Mr.  Canning  may 
have  been,  timidity  was  not  one  of  them,  and  the  diplomatic 
ingenuity  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  its  feeble  attempts  to  play  off 
France  against  England  and  England  against  France,  was  the 
last  policy  he  was  likely  to  respect.  Even  the  American  who 
reads  the  history  of  the  year  1807,  seeing  the  brutal  directness 
with  which  Mr.  Canning  kicked  Mr.  Jefferson's  diplomacy  out 
of  his  path,  cannot  but  feel  a  certain  respect  for  the  Englishman 
mingled  with  wrath  at  his  insolent  sarcasm.  From  the  moment 
Mr.  Canning  and  his  party  assumed  power,  the  fate  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson^ Administration  was  sealed ;  nothing  he  could  do  or  could 
have  done  could  avert  it ;  England  was  determined  to  recover 
her  commerce  and  to  take  back  her  seamen,  and  America  could 
not  retain  either  by  any  means  whatever ;  she  had  no  alternative 
but  submission  or  war,  and  either  submission  or  war  was  equally 
fatal  to  Mr.  Jefferson7s  Administration.  Mr.  Canning  cared 
little  which  course  she  took,  but  he  believed  she  would  submit. 

The  first  intimation  of  the  new  state  of  affairs  came  in  an 
unexpected  and  almost  accidental  shape.  ,  The  winter  of  1806-7 
had  passed,  and,  so  far  as  Congress  was  concerned,  it  had  passed 
without  serious  conflicts.  Burr's  wild  expedition  had  startled 

1  To  Tench  Coxe,  27th  March,  1807. 


1807.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  357 

and  excited  the  country,  but  this  episode  had  no  special  connec- 
tion with  anything  actual ;  it  was  rather  a  sporadic  exhibition  of 
the  personal  peculiarities  of  Mr.  Burr  and  his  lurid  imagination. 
Congress  adjourned  on  the  3d  March,  1807 ;  as  the  summer  ad- 
vanced, Mr.  Gallatin  went  with  his  family  to  New  York ;  on  the 
25th  June  he  was  suddenly  summoned  back  to  Washington  by 
a  brief  note  from  Mr.  Jefferson  announcing  the  capture  of  the 
American  frigate  Chesapeake  by  the  British  ship-of-war  Leopard. 

The  story  of  this  famous  event,  which  more  than  any  other 
single  cause  tended  to  exasperate  national  jealousies  and  to  make 
England  and  America  permanently  hostile,  is  told  in  every  Amer- 
ican school  history,  and  will  probably  be  familiar  to  every  school- 
boy in  the  United  States  for  generations  yet  to  come.  Even  time 
is  slow  in  erasing  the  memory  of  these  national  humiliations,  and 
the  singular  spectacle  has  been  long  presented  of  a  great  nation 
preserving  the  living  memory  of  a  wrong  that  the  offending 
nation  hardly  noticed  at  the  time  and  almost  immediately  forgot. 
The  reason  was  that  in  this  instance  the  wrong  was  a  cruel  and 
cynical  commentary  on  all  the  mistakes  of  our  national  policy ; 
it  gave  the  sentence  of  death  to  the  favorite  dogmas  and  doctrines 
of  the  American  Administration,  and  it  was  a  practical  demon- 
stration of  their  absurdity,  the  more  mortifying  because  of  its 
incontestable  completeness. 

Mr.  Gallatin  hastened  to  Washington,  sickened  by  anxiety  and 
responsibility ;  his  state  of  mind  and  that  of  his  political  friends 
may  be  shown  by  a  few  extracts  from  his  papers: 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE, 

WASHINGTON,  10th  July,  1807. 

...  I  am  afraid  that  in  common  with  many  more  your  feel- 
ings prevent  your  taking  a  correct  view  of  our  political  situation. 
To  spurn  at  negotiation  and  to  tremble  for  the  fate  of  New  York 
are  not  very  consistent.  But  every  person  not  blinded  by  passion 
and  totally  ignorant  of  the  laws  and  usages  of  civilized  nations 
knows  that,  whenever  injuries  are  received  from  subordinate 
officers,  satisfaction  is  demanded  from  the  government  itself  before 
reprisals  are  made ;  and  that  time  to  receive  our  property  from 


358  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1807. 

abroad  and  to  secure  our  harbors  as  well  as  we  can  is  of  impor- 
tance to  us,  can  any  one  doubt  in  New  York  ?  It  is  our  duty  to 
ask  for  reparation,  to  avert  war  if  it  can  be  done  honorably,  and 
in  the  mean  while  not  to  lose  an  instant  in  preparing  for  war. 
On  the  last  point  I  doubt,  between  ourselves,  whether  everything 
shall  be  done  which  ought  to  be  done.  And  for  that  reason  alone 
I  wish  that  Congress  may  be  called  somewhat  earlier  than  is  now 
intended.  The  President  wishes  the  call  for  the  last  of  October. 
I  had  at  first  proposed  the  middle,  but  from  various  circumstances 
I  now  want  an  immediate  call.  The  principal  objection  will  not 
be  openly  avowed,  but  it  is  the  unhealthiness  of  this  city.  I  am 
glad  to  see  the  spirit  of  the  people,  but  I  place  but  a  moderate 
degree  of  confidence  on  those  first  declarations  in  which  many 
act  from  the  first  impulse  of  their  feelings^  more  from  sympathy 
or  fear,  and  only  a  few  from  a  calm  view  of  the  subject.  I  think 
that  I  have  taken  such  a  view,  probed  the  extent  of  the  dangers 
and  evils  of  a  war,  and,  though  fully  aware  of  both,  will  perhaps 
persevere  longer  under  privations  and  evils  than  many  others. 
Our  commerce  will  be  destroyed  and  our  revenue  nearly  annihi- 
lated. That  we  must  encounter ;  but  our  resources  in  money  and 
men  will  be  sufficient  considerably  to  distress  the  enemy  and  to 
defend  ourselves-  everywhere  but  at  sea.  I  have,  in  a  national 
point  of  view,  but  one  subject  of  considerable  uneasiness,  and 
that  i&  New  York,  which  is  now  entirely  defenceless,  and  from  its 
situation-  nearly  indefensible.  This  last  idea  I  keep  altogether  to 
myself.  I  think  that  I  increased  my  sickness  by  intensity  of 
thinking  and  not  sleeping  at  nights.  I  certainly  grew  better  as 
soon  as  my  plans  were  digested,  and,  except  as  to  New  York,  I  feel 
now  very  easy,  provided  that  our  resources  shall  be  applied  with 
ability  and  in  the  proper  direction.  In  the  mean  while  the  ships 
on  our  coast  may  accelerate  hostilities.  This  we  will  try  to  avoid, 
and  so  will  Mr.  Erskine,  who,  having  neither  orders  nor  advice 
from  his  government  on  this  subject,  cannot  be  very  easy  and  will 
not  be  very  influential.  (Admiral  Berkeley's  order  is,  very  curi- 
ously, drawn  and  dated  as  far  back  as  1st  June.)  But  I  think 
that  these  hostilities  will  be  confined  to  blockade  and  captures  till 
they  receive  new  instructions,  and  that  New  York  has  no  imme- 
diate danger  to  apprehend.  At  all  events,  against  such  a  force  it 


1807.  THE    TKEASUEY.      1801-1813.  359 

may  be  defended.     The  difficulty  is  in  case  a  fleet  of  ten  ships  of 

the  line  shall  attack  it.  ... 

14th  July,  1807. 

...  Of  our  public  affairs  I  have  nothing  new  to  say.  It  is 
probable  that  the  attack  on  our  frigate  was  not  directly  author- 
ized by  the  British  government;  it  is  certain  that  the  subsequent 
acts  of  the  commodore  in  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk  were  without 
any  order  even  from  his  admiral.  But  from  the  character  and 
former  orders  of  the  last-mentioned  (Berkeley)  it  is  probable 
that,  considering  the  proclamation  as  hostile,  he  will  order  all 
merchant  vessels  on  our  coast  to  be  taken  and  the  Chesapeake 
to  be  blockaded.  They  will  not  venture  on  any  hostilities  on 
shore  until  they  receive  orders  from  Great  Britain;  for  their 
naval  arrogance  induces  them  to  make  unfounded  distinctions 
between  what  is  legal  on  land  or  on  water  even  within  our 
jurisdiction,  and  they  have  not  really  sense  or  knowledge  enough 
to  feel  that  their  present  conduct  within  the  Chesapeake  is  as 
much  an  actual  invasion  as  if  an  army  was  actually  landed. 
Upon  the  whole,  you  will,  I  am  persuaded,  have  time  to  do 
whatever  is  practicable  for  the  defence  of  New  York.  I  have 
seen  Mr.  Erskine,  whom  I  treated  with  more  civility  than  cor- 
diality ;  but  I  could  not  help  it.  I  believe  that  he  is  much 
embarrassed  between  what  is  right  and  his  fear  of  the  naval 
officers  and  of  his  own  government. 

NATHANIEL   MACON   TO    GALLATIN. 

BUCK  SPRING,  12th  July,  1807. 

SIR, — The  attack  of  the  British  on  the  Chesapeake  and  their 
subsequent  conduct  near  Norfolk  has  much  irritated  every  one 
here,  and  all  are  anxious  to  learn  what  the  President  intends  to 
do.  From  the  tenor  of  his  proclamation  I  suppose  he  intends- 
to  have  a  representation  made  to  the  British  government,  andr 
in  case  that  does  not  produce  the  desired  effect,  to  order  our 
ministers  home,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  have  all  the  prepara- 
tions for  war  he  can  ready.  I  also  suppose  from  the  proclama- 
tion that  Congress  will  not  be  called  until  he  hears  from  London, 
unless  there  should  be  a  change  in  the  state  of  affairs.  .  .  . 


360  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1807. 

If  war  must  be,  we  ought  to  prosecute  it  with  the  same  zeal 
that  we  have  endeavored  to  preserve  peace,  and  by  great  exer- 
tions convince  the  enemy  that  it  is  not  from  fear  or  cowardice 
that  we  dread  it.  But  peace,  if  we  can  have  it,  is  always  best 
for  us,  and  if  the  Executive  can  get  justice  done  and  preserve 
it,  that  Executive  will  deserve  the  thanks  of  every  democrat 
in  the  Union. 


JOSEPH  H.  NICHOLSON  TO  GALLATIN. 

CHESTERFIELD,  14th  July,  1807. 

DEAR  SIR, — .  .  .  We  are  looking  with  great  anxiety  towards 
Washington  for  the  measures  to  be  adopted  by  the  government. 
For  myself  I  consider  a  war  inevitable,  and  almost  wish  for  it. 
An  unqualified  submission  to  Britain  would  not  be  more  de- 
grading than  forbearance  now.  The  Ministry  may  probably, 
and  I  think  will,  disavow  the  late  act  of  their  officer ;  but  there 
are  insults  and  injuries  for  which  neither  an  individual  nor  a 
nation  can  accept  an  apology.  I  had  hoped,  therefore,  that  Mr. 
Erskine  would  have  been  ordered  home  and  our  own  envoys 
recalled.  Nothing  is  now  left  to  negotiate  on.  No  man  ever 
saved  his  honor  who  opened  a  negotiation  for  it.  It  is  no  sub- 
ject of  barter.  If  Tarquin  had  begged  pardon  of  Collatinus 
for  ravishing  his  wife,  I  think  it  would  not  have  been  granted. 
At  all  events  we  cannot,  or  at  least  ought  not,  negotiate  till  our 
seamen  are  restored.  In  1764,  when  France  took  possession  of 
Turk's  Island,  her  minister  at  the  Court  of  London  proposed  to 
negotiate  for  some  claims  that  his  master  had  upon  it.  George 
Grenville  told  him,  "  We  will  not  hear  you ;  we  will  listen 
to  nothing  while  the  island  is  in  your  possession.  Restore  it, 
and  we  will  then  hear  what  you  have  to  say."  It  was  instanta- 
neously given  up.  I  wish  Mr.  Jefferson  would  read  the  history 
of  that  transaction,  and  also  Lord  Chatham's  celebrated  speech 
on  the  business  of  Falkland  Islands.  Each  furnishes  an  ad- 
mirable lesson  for  the  present  moment.  But  one  feeling  per- 
vades the  nation.  All  distinctions  of  federalism  and  democracy 
are  vanished.  The  people  are  ready  to  submit  to  any  deprivation, 
and  if  we  withdraw  ourselves  within  our  own  shell,  and  turn 


1807.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  361 

loose  some  thousands  of  privateers,  we  shall  obtain  in  a  little 
time  an  absolute  renunciation  of  the  right  of  search  for  the 
purposes  of  impressment.  A  parley  will  prove  fatal,  for  the 
merchants  will  begin  to  calculate.  They  rule  us,  and  we  should 
take  them  before  their  resentment  is  superseded  by  considerations 
of  profit  and  loss.  I  trust  in  God  the  Revenge  is  going  out  to 
bring  Monroe  and  Pinkney  home. 


GALLATIN   TO   JOSEPH   H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  17th  July,  1807. 

DEAR  SIR, — .  .  .  With  you  I  believe  that  war  is  inevitable, 
and  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  on  the  question  whether  the 
claims  of  the  parties  prior  to  the  attack  on  the  Chesapeake  should 
be  a  subject  of  discussion.  There  were  but  two  courses  to  be 
taken  :  either  to  consider  the  attack  as  war  and  retaliate  accord- 
ingly, or,  on  the  supposition  that  that  act  might  be  that  of  an 
unauthorized  officer,  to  ask  simply,  and  without  discussion,  dis- 
avowal, satisfaction,  and  security  against  a  recurrence  of  outrages. 
The  result  will  in  my  opinion  be  the  same,  for  Great  Britain  will 
not,  I  am  confident,  give  either  satisfaction  or  security ;  but  the 
latter  mode,  which,  as  you  may  have  perceived  by  the  President's 
proclamation  and  his  answer  to  military  corps,  has  been  adopted, 
was  recommended  not  only  by  the  nature  of  our  Constitution, 
which  does  not  make  the  President  arbiter  of  war,  but  also  by 
the  practice  of  civilized  nations ;  and  the  cases  of  Turk's  Island, 
Falkland  Islands,  Nootka  Sound,  etc.,  are  in  point  in  that  re- 
spect. Add  to  this  that  the  dissatisfaction  caused  by  that  course 
operates  only  against  the  Administration,  and  that  the  other  will 
produce  an  unanimity  in  support  of  the  war  which  would  not 
otherwise  have  existed.  It  will  also  make  our  cause  completely 
popular  with  the  Baltic  powers,  and  may  create  new  enemies  to 
Britain  in  that  quarter.  Finally,  four  months  were  of  importance 
to  us,  both  by  diminishing  the  losses  of  our  merchants  and  for 
preparations  of  defence  and  attack. 

I  will,  however,  acknowledge  that  on  that  particular  point  I 
have  not  bestowed  much  thought ;  for,  having  considered  from 
the  first  moment  war  was  a  necessary  result,  and  the  preliminaries 


362  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1807. 

appearing  to  me  but  matters  of  form,  my  faculties  have  been  ex- 
clusively applied  to  the  preparations  necessary  to  meet  the  times ; 
and  although  I  am  not  very  sanguine  as  to  the  brilliancy  of  our 
exploits,  the  field  where  we  can  act  without  a  navy  being  very 
limited,  and  perfectly  aware  that  a  war  in  a  great  degree  passive 
and  consisting  of  privations  will  become  very  irksome  to  the 
people,  I  feel  no  apprehension  of  the  immediate  result.  We  will 
be  poorer  both  as  a  nation  and  as  a  government ;  our  debt  and 
taxes  will  increase,  and  our  progress  in  every  respect  be  inter- 
rupted. But  all  those  evils  are  not  only  not  to  be  put  in  com- 
petition with  the  independence  and  honor  of  the  nation,  they 
are,  moreover,  temporary,  and  very  few  years  of  peace  will  ob- 
literate their  effects.  Nor  do  I  know  whether  the  awakening  of 
nobler  feelings  and  habits  than  avarice  and  luxury  might  not  be 
necessary  to  prevent  our  degenerating,  like  the  Hollanders,  into 
a  nation  of  mere  calculators.  In  fact,  the  greatest  mischiefs  which 
I  apprehend  from  the  war  are  the  necessary  increase  of  Execu- 
tive power  and  influence,  the  speculation  of  contractors  and 
jobbers,  and  the  introduction  of  permanent  military  and  naval 
establishments.  .  .  . 


NATHANIEL   MACON   TO   GALLATIN. 

ROCK  SPRING,  2d  August,  1807. 

.  .  .  Peace  is  everything  to  us,  especially  in  this  part  of  the 
Union.  Here  the  three  last  crops  have  been  uncommonly  short, 
and  the  last  the  shortest  of  the  three.  These  bad  crops  have 
compelled  many,  who  were  both  careful  and  industrious,  to  go 
in  debt  for  bread  and  to  leave  their  merchant  account  unpaid. 
If  the  Executive  shall  put  a  satisfactory  end  to  the  fracas  with 
Great  Britain,  it  will  add  as  much  to  his  reputation  as  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana.  But  if  this  cannot  be  done,  we  must  try 
which  can  do  the  other  the  most  harm. 

I  suppose  while  I  am  thinking  what  effect  the  war  may  have 
on  my  neighbors  and  countrymen,  you  are  engaged  in  calculating 
its  effects  on  the  payment  of  the  national  debt. 

I  still  wish  peace,  but  if  this  be  denied  to  us  I  am  for  strong 
measures  a0ainst  the  enemy. 


1807.  THE     TREASURY.      1801-1813.  363 

Until  it  was  quite  certain  whether  the  attack  on  the  Chesa- 
peake was  an  authorized  act,  government  could  only  prepare 
for  war.  Mr.  Jefferson  called  upon  his  Cabinet  for  written 
opinions,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  prepared  an  elaborate  paper  con- 
taining a  general  view  of  the  defensive  and  offensive  measures 
which  war  would  require.1  This  done,  and  temporary  arrange- 
ments made,  the  Cabinet  again  separated,  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
returned  to  New  York. 

Congress  was  called  for  the  26th  October,  1807,  and  the  Ad- 
ministration came  together  a  few  weeks  earlier  to  prepare  for  the 
meeting.  When  Mr.  Jefferson  sent  as-  usual  the  draft  of  his 
message  for  revision,  Mr.  Gallatin  found  that  it  was  drawn  up 
"  rather  in  the  shape  of  a  manifesto  issued  against  Great  Britain 
on  the  eve  of  a  war,  than  such  as  the  existing,  undecided  state 
of  affairs  seems  to  require/7  He  remonstrated  in  a  letter,  too 
long  to  quote,  but  of  much  historical  interest.2  The  conclusion 
was  that  "  in  every  view  of  the  subject  I  feel  strongly  impressed 
with  the  propriety  of  preparing  to  the  utmost  for  war  and  carry- 
ing it  with  vigor  if  it  cannot  be  ultimately  avoided,  but  in  the 
mean  while  persevering  in  that  caution  of  language  and  action 
which  may  give  us  some  more  time  and  is  best  calculated  to 
preserve  the  remaining  chance  of  peace,  and  most  consistent 
with  the  general  system  of  your  Administration."  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son at  once  acceded  to  this  view. 


GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  30th  October,  1807. 

.  .  .  Yarnum  has,  much  against  my  wishes,  removed  Randolph 
from  the  Ways  and  Means  and  appointed  Campbell,  of  Ten- 
nessee. It  was  improper  as  related  to  the  public  business,  and 
will  give  me  additional  labor.  Vanzandt  has  missed  the  clerk- 
ship of  the  House,  and  lost  his  place,  from  Mr.  Randolph's 
declaration  that  he  had  listened  to  and  reported  secret  debates. 
The  punishment,  considering  its  consequences  on  his  future 
prospects,  is  rather  hard.  (The  President's  speech  was  origi- 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  341.  2  Ibid.,  p.  358,  21st  October,  1807. 


364  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1807. 

nally  more  warlike  than  was  necessary,  but  I  succeeded  in  getting 
it  neutralized;  this  between  us;  but  it  was  lucky;  for)  Congress 
is  certainly  peaceably  disposed.  .  .  . 

The  British  government,  however,  had  no  intention  of  making 
a  war  out  of  the  Chesapeake  affair.  With  much  dexterity  Mr. 
Canning  used  this  accident  for  his  own  purposes.  He  applied 
the  curb  and  spur  at  the  same  moment  with  marvellous  audacity ; 
disavowing  the  acts  of  the  British  naval  officers,  he  evaded  the 
demand  of  our  government  for  satisfaction,  and,  while  thus  show- 
ing how  sternly  he  meant  to  repress  what  he  chose  to  consider 
our  insolence,  he  sent  Mr.  Rose  to  Washington  to  amuse  Mr. 
Jefferson  with  negotiations,  while  at  the  same  time  he  himself 
carried  out  his  fixed  policy,  with  which  the  affair  of  the  Chesa- 
peake had  no  other  than  a  general  and  accidental  connection. 
Contemptuously  refusing  to  renew  negotiations  over  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's treaty,  at  the  very  moment  of  Mr.  Rose's  departure  to 
Washington  he  issued  his  famous  orders  in  council  of  JSTo- 
vember  11,  1807,  by  which  the  chief  part  of  the  trade  of 
America  with  the  continent  of  Europe  was,  with  one  stroke  of 
the  pen,  suppressed. 

As  there  was  no  pretence  of  law  or  principle  under  which 
this  act  could  be  justified,  Mr.  Canning  put  it  upon  the  ground 
of  retaliation  for  the  equally  outrageous  decrees  of  France ;  but 
in  fact  he  cared  very  little  what  ground  it  was  placed  upon. 
The  act  was  in  its  nature  one  of  war,  and,  as  a  war  measure  for 
the  protection  of  British  commercial  shipping  rapidly  disap- 
pearing before  French  regulations  and  American  competition, 
this  act  was  no  more  violent  than  any  other  act  of  war.  Its 
true  foundation  was  a  not  unwarranted  contempt  for  American 
national  character.  As  Lord  Sidmouth,  who  disapproved  the 
orders  in  council,  wrote  in  1807 :  "  It  is  in  vain  to  speculate  on 
the  result  when  we  have  to  bear  with  a  country  in  which  there 
is  little  authority  in  the  rulers,  and  as  little  public  spirit  and 
virtue  in  the  people.  America  is  no  longer  a  bugbear ;  there  is 
no  terror  in  her  threats." l  America  had  her  redress  if  she  chose 

1  Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Colchester,  ii.  132. 


1807.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  365 

to  take  it ;  if  she  did  not  choose  to  take  it,  as  Mr.  Canning  would 
probably  have  argued,  it  could  only  be  because,  after  all,  it  was 
against  her  interest  to  do  so,  which  to  Mr.  Canning  was  the 
demonstration  of  his  own  problem.1 

1  The  actual  author  of  the  orders  in  council  of  November  11,  1807,  was 
Spencer  Perceval,  then  Attorney-General.  The  objects  he  had  in  view  are 
very  clearly  given  in  a  letter  written  by  him  towards  the  end  of  that  month 
to  Charles  Abbot,  then  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  afterwards 
Lord  Colchester  : 

SPENCER   PERCEVAL   TO   SPEAKER  ABBOT. 

.  .  .  The  business  of  recasting  the  law  of  trade  and  navigation,  as  far  as 
belligerent  principles  are  concerned,  for  the  whole  world,  has  occupied  me 
very  unremittingly  for  a  long  time ;  and  the  subject  is  so  extensive,  and  the 
combinations  so  various,  that,  even  supposing  our  principles  to  be  right,  I 
cannot  hope  that  the  execution  of  the  principle  must  not  in  many  respects 
be  defective ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  we  shall  have  to  watch  it  with  new 
provisions  and  regulations  for  some  time. 

The  short  principle  is  that  trade  in  British  produce  and  manufactures,  and 
trade  either  from  a  British  port  or  with  a  British  destination,  is  to  be  pro- 
tected as  much  as  possible.  For  this  purpose  all  the  countries  where  French 
influence  prevails  to  exclude  the  British  flag  shall  have  no  trade  but  to  or 
from  this  country  or  from  its  allies.  All  other  countries,  the  few  that 
remain  strictly  neutral  (with  the  exception  of  the  colonial  trade,  which 
backwards  and  forwards  direct  they  may  carry  on),  cannot  trade  but  through 
this  being  done  as  an  ally  with  any  of  the  countries  connected  with  France. 
If,  therefore,  we  can  accomplish  our  purposes,  it  will  come  to  this,  that 
either  those  countries  will  have  no  trade,  or  they  must  be  content  to  accept 
it  through  us. 

This  is  a  formidable  and  tremendous  state  of  the  world ;  but  all  the  part 
of  it  which  is  particularly  harassing  to  English  interests  was  existing 
through  the  new  severity  with  which  Buonaparte's  decrees  of  exclusion 
against  our  trade  were  called  into  action. 

Our  proceeding  does  not  aggravate  our  distress  from  it.  If  he  can  keep 
out  our  trade  he  will,  and  he  would  do  so  if  he  could,  independent  of  our 
orders.  Our  orders  only  add  this  circumstance :  they  say  to  the  enemy,  if 
you  will  not  have  our  trade,  as  far  as  we  can  help  it  you  shall  have  none. 
And  as  to  so  much  of  any  trade  as  you  can  carry  on  yourselves,  or  others 
carry  on  with  you  through  us,  if  you  admit  it  you  shall  pay  for  it.  The 
only  trade,  cheap  and  untaxed,  which  you  shall  have  shall  be  either  direct 
from  us,  in  our  own  produce  and  manufactures,  or  from  our  allies,  whose 
increased  prosperity  will  be  an  advantage  to  us.  ... 

Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  ii.  p.  134.  See  also 
the  Life  of  Spencer  Perceval,  by  Spencer  Walpole,  vol.  i.  p.  263  if.,  for  the 
further  history  and  Cabinet  discussions  of  this  subject. 


366  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALL AT IK  1807. 

The  certain  news  of  the  orders  in  council  of  November  11 
reached  Washington  on  December  18,  together  with  threatening 
news  from  France.  A  Cabinet  council  was  instantly  held,  and 
the  confidential  friends  of  the  Administration  consulted.  The 
situation  was  clear.  In  the  face  of  the  orders  in  council  our 
commerce  must  be  kept  at  home,  at  least  until  further  measures 
could  be  taken.  Whether  as  a  war  or  as  a  peace  measure,  an 
embargo  was  inevitable,  and,  unwilling  as  all  parties  were  to  be 
driven  into  it,  there  was  no  alternative.  A  much  more  difficult 
question  was  whether  the  embargo  should  be  made  a  temporary 
measure;  in  other  words,  whether  war,  after  a  certain  date, 
should  be  the  policy  of  the  government. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  opinions  on  these  points  are  fortunately  pre- 
served. He  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  apparently  after  a  Cabinet 
council,  on  the  18th  December  as  follows: 

GALLATIN  TO   JEFFERSON. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  18th  December,  1807. 
DEAR  SIR, — Reflecting  on  the  proposed  embargo  and  all  its 
bearings,  I  think  it  essential  that  foreign  vessels  may  be  ex- 
cepted  so  far  at  least  as  to  be  permitted  to  depart  in  ballast 
or  with  such  cargoes  as  they  may  have  on  board  at  this  moment. 
They  are  so  few  as  to  be  no  object  to  us,  and  we  may  thereby 
prevent  a  similar  detention  of  our  vessels  abroad,  or  at  least 
a  pretence  for  it.  Such  a  seizure  of  our  property  and  seamen 
in  foreign  ports  would  be  far  greater  than  any  possible  loss 
at  sea  for  six  months  to  come.  I  wish  to  know  the  name  of 
the  member  to  whom  Mr.  Rodney  sent  the  sketch  of  a  reso- 
lution, in  order  to  mention  the  subject  to  him,  and  also,  if  you 
approve,  that  you  would  suggest  it  to  such  as  you  may  see. 
I  also  think  that  an  embargo  for  a  limited  time  will  at  this 
moment  be  preferable  in  itself,  and  less  objectionable  in  Con- 
gress. In  every  point  of  view,  privations,  sufferings,  reve- 
nue, effect  on  the  enemy,  politics  at  home,  &c.,  I  prefer  war  to 
a  permanent  embargo.  Governmental  prohibitions  do  always 
more  mischief  than  had  been  calculated;  and  it  is  not  with- 
out much  hesitation  that  a  statesman  should  hazard  to  regu- 


1S07.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  367 

late  the  concerns  of  individuals  as  if  he  could  do  it  better  than 
themselves. 

The  measure  being  of  a  doubtful  policy,  and  hastily  adopted 
on  the  first  view  of  our  foreign  intelligence,  I  think  that  we  had 
better  recommend  it  with  modifications,  and  at  first  for  such  a 
limited  time  as  will  afford  us  all  time  for  reconsideration,  and, 
if  we  think  proper,  for  an  alteration  in  our  course  without 
appearing  to  retract.  As  to  the  hope  that  it  may  have  an  effect 
on  the  negotiation  with  Mr.  Rose,  or  induce  England  to  treat  us 
better,  I  think  it  entirely  groundless. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  back  approving  the  first  suggestion,  and  it 
was  inserted  in  the  bill,  but  on  the  other  point  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
overruled.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  most  of  the  Southern  leaders  of 
his  party  had  a  strong  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  commercial  regula- 
tions ;  they  believed  that  as  the  commerce  of  America  was  very 
valuable  to  England  and  France,  therefore  England  and  France 
might  be  forced  to  do  our  will  by  depriving  them  of  that  com- 
merce; and  perhaps  they  were  in  the  right,  within  certain  limits, 
for,  other  agencies  being  disregarded  and  the  influences  of  com- 
merce being  left  to  act  through  periods  of  years,  nations  will  ulti- 
mately be  controlled  by  them ;  England  herself  was  ultimately 
compelled  by  the  policy  of  commercial  restrictions  to  revoke  her 
orders  in  council,  but  only  after  five  years  of  experiment  and  too 
late  to  prevent  war. 

Meanwhile,  the  effect  of  a  permanent  embargo  was  to  carry 
out  by  the  machinery  of  the  United  States  government  precisely 
the  policy  which  Mr.  Canning  had  adopted  for  his  own.  Ameri- 
can shipping  ceased  to  exist;  American  commerce  was  annihi- 
lated ;  American  seamen  were  forced  to  seek  employment  under 
the  British  flag,  and  British  ships  and  British  commerce  alone 
occupied  the  ocean.  The  strangest  and  saddest  spectacle  of  all 
was  to  see  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  after  seven  years  of 
patient  labor  in  constructing  their  political  system,  forced  to  turn 
their  backs. upon  that  future  which  only  a  few  weeks  before  had 
been  so  brilliant,  and,  with  infinitely  more  labor  and  trouble  than 
they  had  used  in  building  their  edifice  up,  now  toil  to  pull  it  down. 


368  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1808. 

Mr.  Gal  latin  had  no  faith  in  the  embargo  as  a  measure  of 
constraint  upon  the  belligerent  powers;  he  characterized  as 
"  utterly  groundless'7  the  idea  that  it  would  have  any  effect  on 
negotiation  or  induce  England  to  treat  us  better;  but  he  ac- 
cepted it  as  the  policy  fixed  by  his  party  and  by  Congress,  for 
the  adoption  of  which  Congress  was  primarily  responsible,  and 
for  the  execution  of  which  he  had  himself  to  answer;  he  ac- 
cepted it  also  as  the  only  apparent  alternative  to  war,  but  not 
as  a  permanent  alternative. 

Mr.  Jefferson  went  much  farther.  Without  at  this  time  avow- 
ing a  belief  that  the  embargo  would  force  England  and  France 
to  recede,  he  was  warm  in  the  determination  that  its  power 
should  be  tried.  "I  place  immense  value  in  the  experiment 
being  fully  made  how  far  an  embargo  may  be  an  effectual 
weapon  in  future  as  on  this  occasion,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Gal- 
latin.1  Elsewhere  he  repeated  the  same  earnest  wish  to  test 
the  powers  of  this  "  engine  for  national  purposes,"  as  he  called 
it.  He  was  restive  and  even  intolerant  of  opposition  on  this 
subject.  The  embargo  as  a  coercive  measure  against  England 
and  France  was  in  fact  the  only  policy  upon  which  a  fair 
degree  of  unanimity  in  the  party  was  attainable,  or  which 
their  political  education  had  prescribed.  No  spectacle  could 
be  more  lamentable  and  ludicrous  than  the  Congressional 
proceedings  of  this  session;  under  the  relentless  grasp  of  Mr. 
Canning,  the  American  Congress  threw  itself  into  contortions 
such  as  could  not  but  be  in  the  highest  degree  amusing  to 
him,  and  when  watched  as  a  mere  spectacle  of  powerless  rage 
may  have  been  even  instructive.  There  was  but  one  respectable 
policy, — war,  immediate  and  irrespective  of  cost  or  risk ;  but 
of  war  all  parties  stood  in  dread,  and  as  between  England  and 
France  it  was  difficult  to  choose  an  opponent.  Even  for  war 
some  preparation  was  necessary,  but  when  Congress  attempted 
to  consider  preparations,  some  members  wished  for  militia,  some 
for  regular  troops,  some  for  a  navy,  some  for  fortifications,  some 
for  gun-boats,  and  there  were  convincing  reasons  to  prove  that 
each  of  these  resources  was  useless  by  itself,  and  that  taken 

1  On  the  15th  May,  1808. 


1808.  THE    TEEASUKY.     1801-1813.  369 

together  they  were  not  onjbr  far  beyond  the  national  means,  but 
quite  opposed  to  American  theories.  Nevertheless,  a  good  deal 
of  money  was  appropriated  in  an  unsystematic  manner  among 
these  various  objects,  and  Mr.  Gallatin's  surplus  soon  began  to 
dwindle  away. 

On  the  embargo  alone  some  degree  of  unanimity  could  be 
attained.  The  omnipotent  influence  with  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  begun  his  Administration,  although  steadily  diminishing 
with  the  advent  of  a  new  generation  and  the  apparent  accom- 
plishment of  the  great  objects  for  which  the  party  had  been 
educated,  was  still  capable  of  revival  in  its  full  strength  to  give 
effect  to  the  -old  party  dogma  of  commercial  regulations.  Every 
one  was  earnestly  impressed  with  what  Mr.  Jefferson  called  "our 
extreme  anxiety  to  give  a  full  effect  to  the  important  experiment 
of  the  embargo  at  any  expense  within  the  bounds  of  reason." 
The  first  embargo  law  of  December  22,  1807,  was  a  mere  tem- 
porary measure  of  precaution ;  in  order  to  carry  out  the  policy 
with  effect,  a  completer  system  had  to  be  framed,  and  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  was  obliged  himself  to  draft  the  bill  which  was  to  beggar  the 
Treasury ;  but  no  ordinary  grant  of  powers  would  answer  a  pur- 
pose which  consisted  in  stopping  the  whole  action  and  industry 
of  all  the  great  cities  and  much  of  the  rural  population ;  thus 
the  astonishing  spectacle  was  presented  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr. 
Madison,  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  apostles  of  strict  construction, 
of  narrow  grants,  the  men  who  of  all  others  were  the  incarna- 
tion of  that  theory  which  represented  mankind  as  too  much 
governed,  and  who,  according  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  would  have  had 
government  occupy  itself  exclusively  with  foreign  affairs  and 
leave  the  individual  absolutely  alone  to  manage  his  own  concerns 
in  his  own  way, — of  these  men  demanding,  obtaining,  and  using 
powers  practically  unlimited  so  far  as  private  property  was  con- 
cerned ;  powers  in  comparison  with  which  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws  were  narrow  and  jealous  in  their  grants ;  powers  which 
placed  the  fortunes  of  at  least  half  the  community  directly 
under  their  control;  which  made  them  no  more  nor  less  than 
despots ;  which  gave  Mr.  Jefferson  the  right  to  say :  "  we  may 
fairly  require  positive  proof  that  the  individual  of  a  town  tainted 
with  a  general  spirit  of  disobedience  has  never  said  or  done  any- 

24 


370  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1808. 

thing  himself  to  countenance  that  spirit ;" l  and  which  dictated 
his  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  then  among  the 
proudest,  the  wealthiest,  and  the  most  populous  States  in  the 
Union,  that  the  President  had  permitted  her  to  have  sixty  thou- 
sand barrels  of  flour ;  that  this  was  enough,  and  she  must  have 
no  more.2 

Congress  conferred  on  the  President  the  enormous  grants  of 
power  which  he  asked  for,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  proceeded  to  execute 
the  law ;  the  result  was  what  he  had  predicted  when  he  said  that 
government  prohibitions  do  always  more  harm  than  was  calcu- 
lated. The  law  was  first  evaded,  then  resisted ;  then  came  the 
ominous  demand  for  troops,  gun-boats,  and  frigates  to  use  against 
our  own  citizens,  and  to  be  used  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  who,  of  all 
men,  held  military  force  so  applied  in  horror;  then  came  the 
announcement  of  insurrection,  in  August,  from  the  Governor  of 
New  York,  an  insurrection  which  became  chronic  along  the 
northern  frontier,  from  Passaniaquoddy  to  Niagara.  All  along 
the  coast  the  United  States  navy  was  spread  out  to  destroy  that 
commerce  which  it  had  been  built  to  protect,  and  the  officers  of 
our  ships  of  war,  frantic  to  revenge  upon  the  British  cruisers 
their  disgrace  in  the  Chesapeake,  were  compelled  to  assist  these 
very  cruisers  to  plunder  their  own  countrymen. 

The  struggle  between  government  and  citizens  was  violent  and 
prolonged.  Mr.  Gallatin's  letters  at  this  time  to  Mr.  Jefferson 
are  curious  reading.  He  set  himself  with  his  usual  determination 
to  the  task  of  carrying  out  his  duty ;  his  agents  and  instruments 
broke  down  in  every  direction ;  his  annoyances  were  innumerable 
and  his  efforts  only  partially  successful.  The  powers  he  had  de- 
manded and  received,  immense  as  they  were,  proved  insufficient, 
and  he  demanded  more.  Already  in  July,  1808,  he  had  reached 
this  point.  On  the  29th  of  that  month  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son from  New  York :  "  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  if  the  em- 
bargo must  be  persisted  in  any  longer,  two  principles  must 
necessarily  be  adopted  in  order  to  make  it  sufficient :  1st.  That 
not  a  single  vessel  shall  be  permitted  to  move  without  the  special 


1  To  Gallatin,  13th  November,  1808.     Jefferson's  Writings,  v.  385. 

2  To  Governor  Sullivan,  12th  August,  1808.   Jefferson's  Writings,  v.  340. 


1808.  THE     TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  371 

permission  of  the  Executive.  2d.  That  the  collectors  be  invested 
with  the  general  power  of  seizing  property  anywhere,  and  taking 
the  rudders  or  otherwise  effectually  preventing  the  departure  of 
any  vessel  in  harbor,  though  ostensibly  intended  to  remain  there ; 
and  that  without  being  liable  to  personal  suits.  I  am  sensible  that 
such  arbitrary  powers  are  equally  dangerous  and  odious.  But 
a  restrictive  measure  of  the  nature  of  the  embargo  applied  to  a 
nation  under  such  circumstances  as  the  United  States  cannot  be 
enforced  without  the  assistance  of  means  as  strong  as  the  measure 
itself.  To  that  legal  authority  to  prevent,  seize,  and  detain,  must 
be  added  a  sufficient  physical  force  to  carry  it  into  effect ;  and, 
although  I  believe  that  in  our  seaports  little  difficulty  would  be 
encountered,  we  must  have  a  little  army  along  the  lakes  and 
British  lines  generally.  With  that  result  we  should  not  perhaps 
be  much  astonished,  for  the  Federalists  having  at  least  prevented 
the  embargo  from  becoming  a  measure  generally  popular,  and 
the  people  being  distracted  by  the  complexity  of  the  subject, — 
orders  of  council,  decrees,  embargoes, — and  wanting  a  single 
object  which  might  rouse  their  patriotism  and  unite  their  pas- 
sions and  affections,  selfishness  has  assumed  the  reins  in  several 
quarters,  and  the  people  are  now  there  altogether  against  the 
law.  In  such  quarters  the  same  thing  happens  which  has  taken 
place  everywhere  else,  and  even  under  the  strongest  govern- 
ments, under  similar  circumstances.  The  navy  of  Great  Britain 
is  hardly  sufficient  to  prevent  smuggling,  and  you  recollect, 
doubtless,  the  army  of  employees  and  the  sanguinary  code  of 
France,  hardly  adequate  to  guard  their  land  frontiers. 

"  That  in  the  present  situation  of  the  world  every  effort  should 
be  attempted  to  preserve  the  peace  of.  this  nation  cannot  be 
doubted.  But  if  the  criminal  party  rage  of  Federalists  and 
Tories  shall  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  defeat  our  endeavors  to 
obtain  that  object  by  the  only  measure  that  could  possibly  have 
effected  it,  we  must  submit  and  prepare  for  war.  I  am  so  much 
overwhelmed  even  here  with  business  and  interruptions  that  I 
have  not  time  to  write  correctly  or  even  with  sufficient  perspicuity; 
but  you  will  guess  at  my  meaning  where  it  is  not  sufficiently  clear. 
I  mean  generally  to  express  an  opinion  founded  on  the  experience 
of  this  summer,  that  Congress  must  either  invest  the  Executive 


372  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1808. 

with  the  most  arbitrary  powers  and  sufficient  force  to  carry  the 
embargo  into  effect,  or  give  it  up  altogether.  And  in  this  last 
case  I  must  confess  that,  unless  a  change  takes  place  in  the 
measures  of  the  European  powers,  I  see  no  alternative  but  war. 
But  with  whom  ?  This  is  a  tremendous  question  if  tested  only 
by  policy,  and  so  extraordinary  in  our  situation  that  it  is  equally 
difficult  to  decide  it  on  the  ground  of  justice,  the  only  one  by 
which  I  wish  the  United  States  to  be  governed.  At  all  events, 
I  think  it  the  duty  of  the  Executive  to  contemplate  that  result 
as  probable,  and  to  be  prepared  accordingly." 

There  can  be  no  more  painful  task  to  a  man  of  high  principles 
than  to  do  what  Mr.  Gallatin  was  now  doing.  Not  only  was 
he  obliged  to  abandon  the  fruit  of  his  long  labors,  and  to  see 
even  those  results  that  had  seemed  already  gained  suddenly  cast 
in  doubt,  but  he  was  obliged  to  do  this  himself  by  means  which 
he  abhorred,  and  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  characterize,  even 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  "  equally  dangerous  and  odious/7  "  most 
arbitrary  powers,"  such  as  his  whole  life  had  offered  one  long 
protest  against.  On  this  score  he  had  no  defence  against  the 
ferocity  of  party  assaults ;  he  disdained  to  attempt  a  defence ; 
all  that  could  reasonably  be  said  was  true,  and  he  felt  the  con- 
sequences more  keenly  than  any  one ;  he  uttered  no  complaints, 
but  accepted  the  responsibility  and  kept  silence.  Others  were  less 
discreet. 

A.  J.  DALLAS   TO   GALLATIN.' 

30th  July,  1808. 

.  .  .  The  Spanish  affairs  have  an  obvious  effect  upon  our 
political  and  territorial  position.  I  do  not  know  the  measures 
or  the  designs  of  the  government,  and  of  course  I  cannot  say 
what  ought  to  be  done  as  to  foreign  nations.  As  to  ourselves,  I 
will  candidly  tell  you  that  almost  everything  that  is  done  seems 
to  excite  disgust.  I  lament  the  state  of  things,  but  I  verily 
believe  one  year  more  of  writing,  speaking,  and  appointing 
would  render  Mr.  Jefferson  a  more  odious  President,  even  to 
the  Democrats,  than  John  Adams.  My  only  hope  is  that  Mr. 
Madison's  election  may  not  be  affected,  nor  his  administration 
perplexed,  in  consequence  of  the  growing  dissatisfaction  among 


1808.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  373 

the  reputable  members  of  the  Republican  party.  But  I  have 
abandoned  politics,  and  hasten  to  assure  you  of  the  constant  love 
and  esteem  of  all  my  family  for  all  yours. 


ROBERT   SMITH   TO   GALLATIN. 

BALTIMORE,  August  1,  1808. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  favor  of  the  29th,  with  the  enclosures,  I 
have  received.  The  letters  of  General  Dearborn  and  Lincoln 
I  have  forwarded  to  the  President.  The  requisite  orders  will 
go  without  delay  to  the  commanders  of  the  Chesapeake,  the 
Wasp,  and  the  Argus,  Most  fervently  ought  we  to  pray  to 
be  relieved  from  the  various  embarrassments  of  this  said  em- 
bargo. Upon  it  there  will  in  some  of  the  States,  in  the  course 
of  the  next  two  months,  assuredly  be  engendered  monsters. 
Would  that  we  could  be  placed  upon  proper  ground  for  calling 
in  this  mischief-making  busybody. 

Even  in  his  own  family  Mr.  Gallatin  maintained  perfect 
silence  on  this  point.  The  use  of  arbitrary,  odious,  and  dan- 
gerous means  having  been  decided  upon  by  his  party  and  by 
Congress,  and  he  being  the  instrument  to  employ  these  means, 
he  did  employ  them  as  conscientiously  as  he  had  formerly  op- 
posed them,  not  because  they  were  his  own  choice,  but  because 
he  could  see  no  alternative.  Not  even  war  was  clearly  open  to 
him,  for  it  was  impossible  to  say  which  of  the  two  belligerents 
he  ought  to  make  responsible  for  the  situation.  How  obnoxious 
the  embargo  was  to  him  can  only  be  seen  in  his  allusions  to  its 
effects :  "  From  present  appearances/7  he  wrote  to  his  wife  on 
June  29,  1808,  "the  Federalists  will  turn  us  out  by  4th  March 
next;'7  and  on  the  8th  July,  "As  to  my  Presidential  fears,  they 
arise  from  the  pressure  of  the  embargo  and  divisions  of  the 
Republicans.  I  think  that  Vermont  is  lost ;  New  Hampshire 
is  in  a  bad  neighborhood,  and  Pennsylvania  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful. But  I  would  not  even  suggest  such  ideas  so  that  they 
should  go  abroad."  But  he  suggested  them  to  the  President  on 
the  6th  August :  "  I  deeply  regret  to  see  my  incessant  efforts  in 
every  direction  to  carry  the  law  into  effect  defeated  in  so  many 


37  i  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIIST.  1808. 

quarters,  and  that  we  will  probably  produce,  at  least  on  the 
British,  but  an  inconsiderable  effect  by  a  measure  which  at  the 
same  time  threatens  to  destroy  the  Republican  interest.  For 
there  is  almost  an  equal  chance  that  if  propositions  from  Great 
Britain,  or  other  events,  do  not  put  it  in  our  power  to  raise  the 
embargo  before  the  1st  of  October,  we  will  lose  the  Presidential 
election.  I  think  that  at  this  moment  the  Western  States,  Vir- 
ginia, South  Carolina,  and  perhaps  Georgia,  are  the  only  sound 
States,  and  that  we  will  have  a  doubtful  contest  in  every  other. 
The  consciousness  of  having  done  what  was  right  in  itself  is 
doubtless  sufficient;  but  for  the  inefficacy  of  the  measure  on 
the  lakes  and  to  the  northward  there  is  no  consolation;  and  that 
circumstance  is  the  strongest  argument  that  can  be  brought  against 
the  measure  itself." 

These  fears  proved  ungrounded ;  Mr.  Madison  was  elected  by 
a  large  majority,,  and  only  the  New  England  States  reverted  to 
opposition ;  but  New  England  was  on  the  verge  of  adopting  the 
ground  taken  by  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  ten  years 
before,  and  declaring  the  embargo,  as  they  had  declared  the 
sedition  law,  unconstitutional,  null,  and  void.  Mr.  Canning 
treated  the  embargo  with  sarcastic  and  patronizing  contempt  as 
a  foolish  policy,  which  he  regretted  because  it  was  very  incon- 
venient to  the  Americans.  As  an  "  engine  for  national  purposes" 
it  had  utterly  failed,  but  no  one  was  agreed  what  to  do  next. 

GALLATIET   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  July,  1808. 

I  enclose  a  National  Intelligencer,  one  paragraph  of  which, 
together  with  the  Bayonne  decree,  contains  the  substance  of  the 
intelligence.  The  last  we  have  not  officially.  I  think  the  aspect 
of  affairs  unfavorable.  England  seems  to  rely  on  our  own  di- 
visions and  on  the  aggressions  of  France  as  sufficient  to  force  us 
into  a  change  of  measures,  perhaps  war  with  France,  without  any 
previous  reparation  or  relaxation  on  her  part.  Of  the  real 
views  of  the  French  Emperor  nothing  more  is  known  than  what 
appears  on  the  face  of  his  decrees  and  in  his  acts;  and  these 
manifest,  in  my  opinion,  either  a  deep  resentment  because  we 


1303.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  375 

would  not  make  war  against  England,  or  a  wish  to  seek  a 
quarrel  with  us.  Between  the  two  our  situation  is  extremely 
critical,  and  I  believe  that  poor,  limited  human  wisdom  can 
do  and  will  do  but  little  to  extricate  us.  Yet  I  do  not  feel  de- 
spondent, for  so  long  as  we  adhere  strictly  to  justice  towards  all, 
I  have  a  perfect  reliance  on  the  continued  protection  of  that 
Providence  which  has  raised  us  and  blessed  us  as  a  nation. 
But  we  have  been  too  happy  and  too  prosperous,  and  we  con- 
sider as  great  misfortunes  some  privations  and  a  share  in  the 
general  calamities  of  the  world.  Compared  with  other  nations, 
our  share  is  indeed  very  small.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN  TO  JOSEPH  H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  18th  October,  1808. 

.  .  .  Your  political  questions  are  of  no  easy  solution.  We 
cannot  yet  conjecture  whether  the  belligerent  powers  will  alter 
their  orders  and  decrees,  and  if  they  do  not,  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
I  am  as  much  at  a  loss  what  answer  to  make  as  yourself.  The 
embargo,  having  been  adopted,  ought,  if  there  was  virtue  enough 
in  the  Eastern  people,  to  be  continued.  But  without  the  support 
and  the  full  support  of  the  people,  such  a  strong  coercive  meas- 
ure cannot  be  fairly  executed.  If  the  embargo  is  taken  off,  I 
do  not  perceive  yet  any  medium  between  absolute  subjection  or 
war.  Perhaps,  however,  some  substitute  may  be  devised.  A 
non-importation  act  is  the  only  one  which  has  been  suggested ; 
and  that  would  not  answer  entirely  the  object  which  had  been 
intended  by  the  embargo,  which  was  to  avoid  war  without  sub- 
mitting to  the  decrees  of  either  nation.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN  TO  CHARLES   PINCKNEY,  GOVERNOR  OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

24th  October,  1808. 

.  .  .  On  the  subject  of  the  embargo,  and  particularly  of  what 
you  should  communicate  to  the  Legislature,  I  must  refer  you  to 
the  President,  who  can  alone  judge  of  the  propriety  and  extent 
of  communications  prior  to  the  meeting  of  Congress.  As  an 
individual,  but  this  is  conjecture  and  not  fact,  I  believe  that  the 


376  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1803. 

British  ministry  is  either  unwilling,  if  they  can  avoid  it,  to  re- 
peal their  orders  in  any  event  whatever,  or  that  they  wait  for  the 
result  of  their  intrigues  and  of  the  exertions  of  their  friends 
here,  with  hopes  of  producing  irresistible  dissatisfaction  to  the 
embargo,  and  a  change  of  measures  and  of  men.  I  trust  that  if 
this  be  their  object  they  will  be  disappointed,  and  of  the  steadi- 
ness and  patriotism  of  South  Carolina  I  never  entertained  any 
doubt.  On  an  alteration  in  the  measures  of  the  French  Emperor 
I  place  no  more  confidence,  perhaps  even  less,  than  on  Great 
Britain.  The  only  difference  in  his  favor,  and  it  arises  probably 
from  inability  alone,  is  that  he  interferes  not  with  our  domestic 
concerns.  But  let  those  nations  pursue  what  course  they  please, 
I  feel  a  perfect  confidence  that  America  will  never  adopt  a 
policy  which  would  render  her  subservient  to  either,  and  that, 
after  twenty-five  years  of  peace  and  unparalleled  prosperity,  she 
will  meet  with  fortitude  the  crisis,  be  it  what  it  will,  which  may 
result  from  the  difficult  situation  in  which  she  is  for  the  first  time 
placed  since  the  treaty  of  1783. 

Mr.  Gallatin,  to  judge  from  these  last  words,  which  he  repeated 
in  "  Campbell's  Report,"  seems  to  have  considered  the  situation 
as  infinitely  more  difficult  than  it  had  been  in  1798  or  in  1794. 
In  one  respect  at  least  he  was  certainly  right.  Mr.  Jefferson's 
hope  of  having  to  swallow  less  foreign  insolence  than  his  prede- 
cessors was  by  this  time  thoroughly  dispelled.  There  seems  to 
have  been  no  form  of  insult,  simple  or  aggravated,  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  and  his  Administration  did  not  swallow ;  between  the 
exquisitely  exasperating  satire  of  Mr.  Canning  and  the  peremp- 
tory brutality  of  Bonaparte,  he  was  absolutely  extinguished ;  he 
abandoned  his  hope  of  balancing  one  belligerent  against  another, 
and  his  expectation  of  guiding  them  by  their  interests ;  he  aban- 
doned even  the  embargo;  he  laid  down  the  sceptre  of  party 
leadership ;  he  had  no  longer  a  party ;  Virginia  herself  ceased 
to  be  guided  by  his  opinion ;  his  most  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Wilson 
Cary  Nicholas,  favored  war ;  Mr.  William  B.  Giles  was  of  the 
same  mode  of  thinking;  Mr.  Jefferson,  overwhelmed  by  all 
these  difficulties,  longed  for  the  moment  of  his  retreat :  "  Never 
did  a  prisoner,  released  from  his  chains,  feel  such  relief  as  I  shall 


1808.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  377 

on  shaking  off  the  shackles  of  power." 1  So  cowed  was  he  as 
to  do  what  no  President  had  ever  done  before,  or  has  ever  done 
since,  and  what  no  President  has  a  constitutional  right  to  do : 
he  abdicated  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  no  entreaty  could 
induce  him  to  resume  them.  So  soon  as  the  election  was  decided, 
he  hastened  to  throw  upon  his  successor  the  burden  of  respon- 
sibility and  withdrew  himself  from  all  but  the  formalities  of 
administration :  "  I  have  thought  it  right,"  he  wrote  on  De- 
cember 27,  1808,  "to  take  no  part  myself  in  proposing  measures, 
the  execution  of  which  will  devolve  on  my  successor.  I  am  there- 
fore chiefly  an  unmeddling  listener  to  what  others  say." 2  "  Our 
situation  is  truly  difficult.  We  have  been  pressed  by  the  bel- 
ligerents to  the  very  wall,  and  all  further  retreat  is  impracticable." 
The  duty  of  providing  a  policy  fell  of  necessity  upon  Mr. 
Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  although  they  could  not  act  effectively 
without  the  President's  power.  Under  these  circumstances,  on 
the  7th  November,  1808,  Congress  met.  The  President's  mes- 
sage, in  conformity  with  his  determination  to  decline  any  ex-* 
pression  of  opinion,3  proposed  nothing  in  regard  to  the  embargo, 
and  this  silence  necessarily  threw  the  party  into  still  greater  dis- 
order, until  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin  were  driven  to  make 
a  combined  attempt  to  recall  Mr.  Jefferson  to  his  duties. 

GALLATIN    TO   JEFFERSON. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  TREASURY,  15th  November,  1808. 

DEAR  SIR, — Both  Mr.  Madison  and  myself  concur  in  opinion 
that,  considering  the  temper  of  the  Legislature,  or  rather  of  its 
members,  it  would  be  eligible  to  point  out  to  them  some  precise 
and  distinct  course. 

As  to  what  that  should  be  we  may  not  all  perfectly  agree,  and 
perhaps  the  knowledge  of  the  various  feelings  of  the  members 
and  of  the  apparent  public  opinion  may  on  consideration  induce 

1  To  Dupont  de  Nemours,  2d  March,  1809.    Writings,  v.  432. 

2  To  Dr.  Logan.     Jefferson's  Writings,  v.  404.     Letter  to  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Lincoln,  13th  November,  1808,  v.  387. 

8  Letter  to  Mr.  Gallatin  of  October  30,  1808.  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i. 
p.  420. 


378  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  A  TIN.  1808. 

a  revision  of  our  own.  I  feel  myself  nearly  as  undetermined 
between  enforcing  the  embargo  or  war  as  I  was  on  our  last 
meetings.  But  I  think  that  w£  must  (or  rather  you  must)  de- 
cide the  question  absolutely,  so  that  we  may  point  out  a  decisive 
course  either  way  to  our  friends.  Mr.  Madison,  being  unwell, 
proposed  that  I  should  call  on  you  and  suggest  our  wish  that  we 
might  with  the  other  gentlemen  be  called  by  you  on  that  subject. 
Should  you  think  that  course  proper,  the  sooner  the  better.  The 
current  business  has  prevented  my  waiting  on  you  personally  in 
the  course  of  the  morning. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  as  appears  from  his  letter  to  Dr. 
Logan  of  December  27,  quoted  above,  persisted  in  declining 
responsibility.  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin  were  obliged  to 
follow  another  course.  Mr.  Gallatin  drafted  a  report  for  the 
Committee  of  Foreign  Relations,  which  was,  on  the  22d  Novem- 
ber, 1808,  presented  to  the  House  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Campbell  for  the 
committee,  and  which  has  been  always  known  under  the  name 
of  Campbell's  Report.  This  paper  is  probably  the  best  state- 
ment ever  made  of  the  American  argument  against  the  British 
government  and  the  orders  in  council ;  it  certainly  disposed  of 
the  pretence  that  those  orders  were  justifiable  either  on  the  ground 
of  retaliation  upon  France  or  on  that  of  American  acquiescence 
in  French  infractions  of  international  law ;  but  its  chief  object 
was  to  unite  the  Republican  party  on  common  ground  and  to 
serve  as  the  foundation  of  a  policy ;  for  this  purpose  it  concluded 
by  recommending  the  adoption  of  three  resolutions,  the  first  of 
which  pledged  the  nation  not  to  submit  to  the  edicts  of  Great 
Britain  and  France;  the  second  pledged  them  to  exclude  the 
commerce  and  productions  of  those  countries  from  our  ports; 
and  the  third,  to  take  immediate  measures  to  put  the  United 
States  in  a  better  condition  of  defence.  These  resolutions  were 
debated  nearly  a  month,  and  finally  adopted  by  large  majorities. 

In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Gallatin  asked  for  the  extension  which 
he  needed  of  powers  to  carry  out  the  embargo  law,  and  the  force 
to  back  these  powers.  A  bill  to  that  effect  was  soon  reported, 
and  was  rapidly  passed,  a  bill  famous  in  history  as  the  Enforce- 
ment Act.  It  was  a  terrible  measure,  and  in  comparison  with 


1808.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  379 

its  sweeping  grants  of  arbitrary  power,  all  previous  enactments 
of  the  United  States  Congress  sank  into  comparative  insignifi- 
cance. How  it  could  be  defended  under  any  conceivable  theory 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  how  it  could  receive  the  support 
of  any  Republican  whose  memory  extended  ten  years  back,  are 
questions  which  would  be  difficult  to  answer  if  the  Annals  of 
Congress  were  not  at  hand  to  explain.  The  two  parties  had 
completely  changed  their  position,  and  while  the  Republicans 
stood  on  the  ground  once  occupied  by  the  Federalists,  the  Fede- 
ralists were  seeking  safety  under  the  States'  rights  doctrines  for- 
merly avowed  by  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Republicans. 

As  a  result  of  eight  years7  conscientious  and  painful  eifort,  the 
situation  was  calculated  to  sober  and  sadden  the  most  sanguine 
Democrat.  The  idea  was  at  last  impressed  with  unmistakable 
emphasis  upon  every  honest  and  reflecting  mind  in  the  Republi- 
can party  that  the  failures  of  the  past  were  not  due  to  the  faults 
of  the  past  only,  and  that  circumstances  must  by  their  nature  be 
stronger  and  more  permanent  than  men.  Brought  at  last  face  to 
face  with  this  new  political  fact  which  gave  the  lie  to  all  his 
theories  and  hopes,  even  the  sanguine  and  supple  Jefferson  felt 
the  solid  earth  reel  under  him,1  and  his  courage  fled;  it  was 
long  before  he  recovered  his  old  confidence,  and  he  never  could 
speak  of  the  embargo  and  the  last  year  of  his  Presidency  without 
showing  traces  of  the  mental  shock  he  had  suffered. 

Mr.  Gallatin  was  made  of  different  stuff.  In  his  youth 
almost  as  sanguine  as  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  knew  better  how  to 
accept  defeat  and  adapt  himself  to  circumstances,  how  to  abandon 
theory  and  to  move  with  his  generation;  but  it  needed  all  and 
more  than  all  the  toughness  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  character  to 
support  his  courage  in  this  emergency.  He  knew,  quite  as  well 
as  John  Randolph  or  as  any  Federalist,  how  far  he  had  drifted 
from  his  true  course,  and  how  arbitrary,  odious,  and  danger- 
ous was  the  course  he  had  to  pursue;  but  he  at  least  now 
learned  to  recognize  in  the  fullest  extent  the  omnipotence  of 
circumstance.  He  had  no  longer  a  principle  to  guide  him. 
Except,  somewhere  far  in  the  background,  a  general  theory 

1  Letter  to  Cabell,  2d  February,  1816.    Writings,  vi.  540. 


380  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIK  1808. 

that  peace  was  better  than  war,  not  a  shred  was  left  of  Ke- 
publican  principles.  Facts,  not  theories,  were  all  that  sur- 
vived in  the  wreck  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administration,  and  the 
solitary  fact  which  asserted  itself  prominently  above  all  others, 
was  that  the  United  States  could  only  be  likened  to  an  unfortu- 
nate rat  worried  by  two  terrier  bull-dogs ;  whether  it  fought  or 
whether  it  fled,  its  destiny  was  to  be  eaten  up.  The  only  choice 
was  one  of  evils;  that  of  the  manner  of  extinction.  The  country 
had  selected  the  manner  of  its  own  free  will,  not  under  any 
urgency  from  Mr.  Gallatin ;  but  when  it  was  tried,  it  was  found 
to  be  suicide  by  suffocation.  New  England,  hostile  to  the  gov- 
ernment, and  dependent  more  immediately  on  commerce  than 
her  neighbors,  resisted,  revolted,  and  gasped  convulsively  for  life 
and  air.  Her  struggle  saved  her ;  necessity  taught  new  modes 
of  existence  and  made  her  at  length  almost  independent  of  the 
sea,  Virginia,  however,  friendly  to  the  government  and  herself 
responsible  for  the  choice,  submitted  with  hardly  a  murmur,  and 
never  recovered  from  the  shock ;  her  ruin  was  accelerated  with 
frightful  rapidity  because  she  made  no  struggle  for  life. 

Mr.  Gallatin  saw  the  situation  as  clearly  as  most  men  of  his 
time,  and  at  this  moment,  when  New  England  was  struggling 
most  wildly,  he  was  obliged  to  say  whether  in  his  opinion  the 
policy  of  government  should  be  changed  or  not.  How  slowly 
and  doubtfully  he  came  to  his  decision  has  been  seen  in  his 
letters,  and  was  inevitable  from  his  character.  As  he  said  on 
December  18,  1807,  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  preferred  war  in  every 
point  of  view  to  a  permanent  embargo ;  but  the  embargo  had 
been  adopted  as  a  policy ;  it  had  been  maintained  at  a  fearful 
cost;  the  injury  it  could  inflict  was  for  the  most  part  accom- 
plished ;  the  difficulties  of  enforcing  it  were  overcome ;  its  effect 
on  England  was  only  beginning  to  be  felt ;  so  far  as  New  Eng- 
land was  concerned,  the  danger  was  less  imminent  than  it  ap- 
peared to  be,  and  the  task  of  carrying  that  part  of  the  country 
into  armed  rebellion  was  by  no  means  an  easy  one ;  to  abandon 
the  embargo  now  was  to  exhibit  the  government  in  the  light  of 
a  vacillating  and  feeble  guide,  to  destroy  all  popular  faith  in  its 
wisdom  and  courage,  to  shake  the  supports  and  undermine  the 
authority  of  the  new  Administration,  and  to  encourage  every 


1808.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  381 

element  of  faction.  Abroad  the  effect  of  this  feebleness  would 
be  fatal.  In  the  face  of  opponents  like  Canning  and  Bonaparte, 
weakness  of  will  was  the  only  unpardonable  and  irrevocable 
crime. 

Another  motive  which  probably  decided  Mr.  Madison  and 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  one  they  could  not  use  for  an  argument.  Mr. 
Erskine,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  was  a  young  man 
of  liberal  politics  and  with  an  American  wife ;  he  was"  honestly 
anxious  to  restore  friendly  relations  between  the  two  govern- 
ments, and  he  was  stimulated  by  the  idea  of  winning  distinction. 
It  appears  from  his  letters  that  as  early  as  the  end  of  November, 
1808,  the  moment  the  election  was  fairly  decided  and  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson had  in  effect  surrendered  the  Presidency  to  Mr.  Madison, 
the  idea  had  begun  to  work  in  his  mind  that  the  time  for 
attempting  a  reconciliation  had  come.  What  Mr.  Canning  had 
refused  to  concede  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  friend  of  France,  he 
might  be  willing  to  offer  to  Mr.  Madison,  whose  sympathies 
were  rather  English  than  French.  Mr.  Erskine  lost  no  time  in 
sounding  the  members  of  the  new  Administration,  and  he  found 
them  one  and  all  disposed  to  encourage  him.  He  talked  long 
and  earnestly  with  Mr.  Gallatin,  "  whose  character/7  he  wrote  to 
Mr.  Canning  on  December  4,  1808,  "must  be  well  known  to 
you  to  be  held  in  the  greatest  respect  in  this  country  for  his  un- 
rivalled talents  as  a  financier  and  a  statesman."  Mr.  Gallatin 
flattered  and  encouraged  him.  "At  the  close  of  my  interview 
with  Mr.  Gallatin,  he  said,  in  a  familiar  way,  'You  see,  sir, 
we  could  settle  a  treaty  in  my  private  room  in  two  hours  which 
might  perhaps  be  found  to  be  as  lasting  as  if  it  was  bound  up 
in  all  the  formalities  of  a  regular  system/  "  He  hinted  to  Mr. 
Gallatin  his  theory  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  acted  with  partiality 
to  France,  at  which  Mr.  Gallatin  "  seemed  to  check  himself/7 
and  turned  the  conversation  immediately  upon  the  character  of 
Mr.  Madison,  saying  "  that  he  could  not  be  accused  of  having 
such  a  bias  towards  France,"  whereat  the  young  diplomatist, 
instead  of  inferring  that  Mr.  Gallatin  saw  through  him  and  all 
his  little  motives  and  meant  to  let  them  work  undisturbed,  drew 
only  the  inference  that  Mr.  Gallatin  thought  as  he  did  about 
Mr.  Jefferson,  but  dared  not  say  so. 


382  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1808. 

Acting  under  these  impressions,  Mr.  Erskine  early  in  Decem- 
ber, 1808,  wrote  a  series  of  despatches  to  Mr.  Canning,  sug- 
gesting that  this  favorable  moment  should  be  used.  While 
waiting  for  the  necessary  instructions,  he  continued  his  friendly 
relations  with  the  Cabinet,  and  the  Cabinet,  not  a  little  pleased 
at  discovering  at  length  one  example  of  a  friendly  Englishman, 
cultivated  these  relations  with  cordiality. 

The  policy  adopted  by  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin  is  to 
be  found  in  scattered  pieces  of  evidence.  Mr.  Gallatin's  letter 
of  15th  November,  1808,  to  Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  prove  that 
he  was  still  on  that  day  not  quite  decided ;  but  his  annual 
report,  dated  December  10,  which  was  clearly  intended  to 
supply  to  some  extent  the  want  of  distinctness  in  the  Presi- 
dent's message,  shows  that  in  the  interval  the  course  had 
been  marked  out  which  the  new  Administration  meant  to 
pursue. 

This  report  began,  as  usual,  with  a  sketch  of  the  financial 
situation.  The  receipts  of  the  Treasury  during  the  year  ending 
September  30,  1808,  had  been  $17,952,000,  a  sum  greater  than 
the  receipts  of  any  preceding  year,  but  principally  consisting  of 
revenue  accrued  during  1807.  On  January  1,  1809,  the  Treas- 
ury would  have  a  sum  of  $16,000,000  on  hand,  of  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  estimated  that  the  expenses  of  1809  would  consume 
$13,000,000,  leaving  a  surplus  of  only  $3,000,000  to  be  dis- 
posed of. 

Thus  the  government  could  look  forward  with  confidence  to 
the  1st  January,  1810,  and  if  extraordinary  preparations  for 
war  were  necessary,  it  could,  by  stopping  the  redemption  of 
debt,  provide  some  $5,000,000  additional  for  the  year  without 
recurring  to  loans. 

After  thus  describing  the  resources  of  the  government,  the 
Secretary  proceeded  to  discuss  its  probable  expenses  under  the 
four  contingencies  among  which  he  supposed  the  choice  of  Con- 
gress to  lie.  Two  of  these  were  merely  forms  of  submission  to 
Great  Britain  and  France,  and,  as  in  this  case  resistance  would 
not  be  contemplated,  no  provision  beyond  an  immediate  reduc- 
tion of  expenses  was  required.  The  other  two  were  forms  of 
resistance ;  embargo,  or  war. 


1808.  THE     TREASURY.      1801-1813.  383 

The  embargo  considered  as  a  temporary  measure,  which  would 
ultimately  be  superseded  by  war,  was,  financially,  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  war  measure,  and  preparations  made  accordingly; 
while  if  the  embargo  were  adopted  as  a  permanent  system, 
coterminous  with  the  belligerent  edicts,  it  was  a  peace  measure, 
and  needed  no  other  provision  than  economy  at  least  for  the 
next  two  years. 

War  must  be  carried  on  principally  by  loans,  and  the  embargo 
had  produced  a  situation  most  favorable  for  effecting  loans.  No 
internal  taxes  of  any  description  need  be  imposed.  All  that 
the  Treasury  required,  besides  economy,  was  to  double  the 
import  duties;  to  limit  the  system  of  drawbacks;  either  to 
repeal  or  to  complete  the  partial  non-intercourse  law,  and  to 
reform  the  system  of  accountability  in  the  Army  and  Navy 
Departments. 

The  report  was  decidedly  warlike;  clearly,  if  war  was  to 
come,  Mr.  Gallatin  wished  it  to  be  begun  within  another  year. 
His  policy,  therefore,  is  evident;  he  would  have  had  Congress 
take  a  strong  tone ;  continue  the  embargo  for  a  given  time  until 
the  results  of  Mr.  Erskine's  representations  should  be  known ; 
and  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  the  embargo  was  to  give 
place  to  war.  He  would  have  had  Congress  apply  six  or  eight 
millions  to  the  purchase  of  arms  and  stores,  to  the  building  of 
forts  or  of  ships,  and  to  the  organization  of  the  militia;  and 
with  a  firm  party  behind  him  and  such  measures  of  preparation, 
he  would  have  spoken  to  Mr.  Canning  and  to  Napoleon  with  as 
much  authority  as  it  was  in  his  power  to  command.  He  would 
boldly  have  retaliated  upon  both. 

This  was  the  plan  adopted  for  the  new  Administration  and 
earnestly  pressed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  whom  the 
President  elect  then  looked  upon  as  his  future  Secretary  of  State. 
Mr.  Jefferson's  theory  that  his  successor  was  responsible  for  the 
government  after  his  election  was  decided,  utterly  untenable 
and  mischievous  as  it  was,  compelled  Mr.  Madison  to  act 
through  Mr.  Gallatin.  The  whole  future  of  his  Administration 
turned  on  his  success  in  holding  the  party  together  on  this  line 
of  policy,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  labored  night  and  day  to  effect  this 
object. 


384  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GAL  LA  TIN.  1808. 

MACON   TO  JOSEPH  H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  December  4,  1808. 

.  .  .  The  war  men  in  the  House  of  Representatives  are,  I  con- 
ceive, gaming  strength,  and  I  should  not  be  much  surprised  if 
we  should  be  at  war  with  both  Great  Britain  and  France  before 
the  4th  of  March.  Gallatin  is  most  decidedly  for  war,  and  I 
think  that  the  Vice-President  and  W.  C.  Nicholas  are  of  the 
same  opinion.  It  is  said  that  the  President  gives  no  opinion  as 
to  the  measures  that  ought  to  be  adopted.  It  is  not  known 
whether  he  be  for  war  or  peace.  It  is  reported  that  Mr.  Madi- 
son is  for  the  plan  which  I  have  submitted,  with  the  addition  of 
high  protecting  duties  to  encourage  the  manufacturers  of  the 
United  States.  I  am  as  much  against  war  as  Gallatin  is  in  favor 
of  it.  Thus  I  have  continued  in  Congress  till  there  is  not 
one  of  my  old  fellow-laborers  that  agrees  with  me  in  opinion. 
I  do  not  know  what  plan  Randolph  will  pursue.  He  is  against 
continuing  the  embargo.  I  wish  he  would  lay  some  plan 
before  the  House.  It  grieves  me  to  the  heart  to  be  compelled 
from  a  sense  of  right  and  duty  to  oppose  him.  I  am  not 
consulted,  as  you  seem  to  suppose,  about  anything,  nor  do  I  con- 
sult any  one.  I  am  about  as  much  out  of  fashion  as  our  grand- 
mothers7 ruffle  cuffs,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  I  shall  be  in 
fashion  as  soon  as  they  will. 


GALLATIN   TO   JOSEPH   H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  29th  December,  1808. 

Never  was  I  so  overwhelmed  with  public  business.  That 
would  be  nothing  if  we  went  right.  But  a  great  confusion  and 
perplexity  reign  in  Congress.  Mr.  Madison  is,  as  I  always 
knew  him,  slow  in  taking  his  ground,  but  firm  when  the  storm 
arises.  What  I  had  foreseen  has  taken  place.  A  majority  will 
not  adhere  to  the  embargo  much  longer,  and  if  war  be  not 
speedily  determined  on,  submission  will  soon  ensue.  This  en- 
tirely between  us.  When  will  you  be  here  ?  We  expect  you, 
and  the  sooner  the  better.  Exclusively  of  the  pleasure  we  always 


1809.  THE     TKEASUKY.      1801-1813.  385 

have  in  seeing  you,  rely  upon  it  that  your  presence  will  at  this 
crisis  be  useful.  I  actually  want  time  to  give  you  more  details, 
but  I  will  only  state  that  it  is  intended  by  the  Essex  Junto  to 
prevail  on  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  who  meet  in  two 
or  three  weeks,  to  call  a  convention  of  the  five  New  England 
States,  to  which  they  will  try  to  add  New  York;  and  that  some- 
thing must  be  done  to  anticipate  and  defeat  that  nefarious  plan. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  private  letters  tell  the  story  of  Mr.  Madison's 
failure  to  control  his  party,  and  of  the  collapse  of  his  war  policy. 
On  the  19th  January,  1809,  he  wrote  to  Thomas  Lomax  i1  "  I 
think  Congress,  although  they  have  not  passed  any  bill  indicative 
of  their  intentions,  except  the  new  embargo  law,  have  evidently 
made  up  their  minds  to  let  that  continue  only  till  their  meeting 
in  May,  and  then  to  issue  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  against 
such  powers  as  shall  not  then  have  repealed  their  illegal  decrees. 
Some  circumstances  have  taken  place  which  render  it  very  possi- 
ble that  Great  Britain  may  revoke  her  orders  of  council.  This 
will  be  known  before  May."  Two  days  later,  Mr.  Jefferson 
wrote  to  Mr.  Leiper  :2  "  The  House  of  Representatives  passed 
last  night  a  bill  for  the  meeting  of  Congress  on  the  22d  of  May. 
This  substantially  decides  the  course  they  mean  to  pursue, — that 
is,  to  let  the  embargo  continue  till  then,  when  it  will  cease,  and 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  be  issued  against  such  nations  as 
shall  not  then  have  repealed  their  obnoxious  edicts.  The  great 
majority  seem  to  have  made  up  their  minds  on  this,  while  there 
is  considerable  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  details  of  preparation, 
to  wit :  naval  force,  volunteers,  army,  non-intercourse,  &c."  But 
on  the  7th  February  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  :3  "  I  thought  Congress 
had  taken  their  ground  firmly  for  continuing  their  embargo  till 
June,  and  then  war.  But  a  sudden  and  unaccountable  revolution 
of  opinion  took  place  the  last  week,  chiefly  among  the  New  Eng- 
land and  New  York  members,  and  in  a  kind  of  panic  they  voted 
the  4th  of  March  for  removing  the  embargo,  and  by  such  a  ma- 
jority as  gave  all  reason  to  believe  they  would  not  agree  either  to 


1  Jefferson  MSS.  2  Jefferson's  Writings,  v.  417. 

s  To  T.  M.  Kandolph.  Writings,  v.  424. 

25 


386  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1809. 

war  or  non-intercourse.  This,  too,  was  after  we  had  become  satis- 
fied that  the  Essex  Junto  had  found  their  expectation  desperate 
of  inducing  the  people  there  to  either  separation  or  forcible  oppo- 
sition. The  majority  of  Congress,  however,  has  now  rallied  to 
removing  the  embargo  on  the  4th  of  March,  non-intercourse  with 
France  and  Great  Britain,  trade  everywhere  else,  and  continuing 
war  preparations."  The  defeat  of  the  Administration  on  the 
crucial  point  of  fixing  the  1st  June,  1809,  for  removing  the  em- 
bargo, took  place  on  February  2,  by  a  vote  of  73  to  40.  The 
substitution  of  March  4  was  carried  on  February  3,  by  a  vote 
of  70,  no  ayes  and  noes  having  been  taken  on  either  side.  The 
new  Administration  had  already  met  with  a  serious  if  not  fatal 
check.  As  Mr.  Gal  latin  said  in  a  note  to  Mr.  Jefferson  of  Feb- 
ruary 4,  the  day  after  the  disaster:  "As  far  as  my  information 
goes,  everything  grows  more  quiet  in  Massachusetts  and  Maine. 
All  would  be  well  if  our  friends  remained  firm  here." 

The  votes  of  February  2  and  February  4,  1809,  carried  a 
deeper  significance  to  Mr.  Gallatin  than  to  any  one  else,  for  they 
did  not  stand  alone.  Congress  had  already  shown  that  it  meant 
to  accept  his  control  no  longer,  and  this  was  no  mere  panic  and 
no  result  of  New  England  defection.  He  had  at  last  to  meet 
the  experience  of  defeat  where  he  had  supposed  himself  strongest. 
As  has  been  seen,  the  administration  of  naval  affairs  had  always 
been  repugnant  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  wishes;  the  time  when  he 
had  opposed  a  moderate  navy  had  long  passed,  and,  as  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  he  had  never  wished  to  diminish  the 
efficiency  or  lessen  the  force  of  the  few  frigates  we  had ;  but 
he  conceived  that  the  management  of  the  Department  under 
Mr.  Robert  Smith  was  wasteful  and  inefficient.  Very  large 
sums  of  money  had  been  spent,  for  which  there  was  little  to 
show  except  one  hundred  and  seventy  gun-boats,  which  had  cost 
on  an  average  $9000  each  to  build  and  would  cost  $11,500 
a  year  in  actual  service.  At  the  beginning  of  the  session  it 
had  been  distinctly  intimated  by  the  Executive  that  no  present 
increase  of  force  was  required;  but  suddenly,  on  the  4th  Jan- 
uary, 1809,  the  Senate  adopted  a  bill  which  directed  that  all 
the  frigates  and  other  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States,  in- 
cluding the  gun-boats,  should  be  immediately  fitted  out,  officered, 


1809.  THE     TKEASTJKY.     1801-1813.  387 

manned,  and  employed.  The  law  was  mandatory ;  it  required 
the  immediate  employment  of  some  six  thousand  seamen  and 
the  appropriation  of  some  six  million  dollars,  and  this  excessive 
expenditure  on  the  part  of  the  navy  was  not  accompanied  by 
any  corresponding  measures  for  shore  armaments  and  defences. 
If  war  did  not  take  place  the  expense  was  entirely  lost.  Had 
these  six  millions  been  expended  in  buying  arms,  constructing 
fortifications  and  putting  them  in  readiness  for  war,  or  in  organ- 
izing and  arming  the  militia,  or  in  building  frigates  and  ships 
of  the  line,  the  government  would  have  had  something  to  show 
for  them ;  but  to  waste  the  small  national  treasure  before  war 
began;  to  support  thousands  of  seamen  in  absolute  idleness, 
with  almost  a  certainty  that  the  moment  a  British  frigate  came 
within  sight  they  would  have  to  run  ashore  for  safety,  seemed 
insane  extravagance.  Yet  when  the  Senate's  amendment  came 
before  the  House  it  was  adopted  on  the  10th  January  by  a  vote 
of  64  to  59,  in  the  teeth  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  warm  remonstrances. 
Among  his  papers  is  the  following  curious  analysis  of  this  vote. 

THE   NAVY   COALITION   OF   1809. 

By  whom  were  sacrificed 

Forty  Republican  members,  nine  Republican  States, 
The  Republican  cause  itself,  and  the  people  of  the  United  States, 

To  a  system  of 
Favoritism,  extravagance,  parade,  and  folly. 


1.  Smith  Faction,  or  Ruling  Party. 

File  Leader,  W.  C.  Nicholas,  E.  W. ;  Assistants,  Dawson,  J.  G-. 
Jackson,  McCreery,  Montgomery,  Newton  .  ...  6 

2.  Federalists,  Old  and  New. 

Dana,  Elliot,  Goldsborough,  Harris,  Kay,  Lewis,  Livermore, 
Lyon,  Masters,  Mosely,  Pitkin,  Russel,  Sloan,  Stedman, 
Sturges,  Van  Dyke,  Yan  Rensselaer 17 

3.   quids.  27* 

Cook,  Findley,  Gardner,  Van  Horn 4 

4.  New  York  Malcontents. 
Mumford,  Swart,  Thompson,  Van  Cortland,  Wilson,  Riker      .     6 

33 


388 


LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN. 


1809. 


5.  Scared  Yankees. 

Bacon,  Barker,  Durell,  Illsley,  Storer     . 

6.  Republicans. 

Virginia. 

N.  York. 

N.  England. 

N.  Jersey. 

Basset. 

Blake. 

Cutts. 

Helms. 

Clay. 
Clopton. 
Gholson. 

Humphreys. 
Kirkpatrick. 
Van  Allan. 

Deane. 
Fisk. 
Green. 

Lambert. 
Newbold. 

Holmes. 
Smith. 

Verplanck. 

Seaver. 
Smith. 

Wilbour. 

Other  States. 
Kenan. 
N.  Moore. 
Smelt. 
Troup. 


Jones 


7.  Sui  Gkeneris. 


Friendly  only 


25 
1 

64 

*27 
37 


The  meaning  of  all  this  confusion  was  soon  made  clear  to 
Gallatin.  A  web  of  curious  intrigue  spun  itself  over  the  chair 
which  Mr.  Madison  now  left  empty  in  the  Department  of 
State ;  there  was  no  agreement  upon  the  person  who  was  to  fill 
it,  and  who.  would,  perhaps,  be  made  thereby  the  most  promi- 
nent candidate  for  succession  to  the  throne  itself.  Not  until 
his  inauguration  approached  did  Mr.  Madison  distinctly  give 
it  to  be  understood  that  he  intended  to  make  Mr.  Gallatin  his 
Secretary  of  State.  This  intention  roused  vehement  opposition 
among  Senators.  Leib  and  the  Aurora  influence  were  of  course 
hostile  to  Gallatin,  and  Leib  now  found  a  formidable  ally 
in  William  B.  Giles,  Senator  from  Virginia.  Giles  made  no 
concealment  of  his  opposition.  "  From  the  first,"  wrote  Mr. 
Wilson  Gary  Nicholas,  "  Mr.  Giles  declared  his  determination 
to  vote  against  Gallatin.  I  repeatedly  urged  and  entreated  him 
not  to  do  it;  for  several  days  it  was  a  subject  of  discussion 
between  us.  There  was  no  way  which  our  long  and  intimate 
friendship  would  justify,  consistent  with  my  respect  for  him,  in 
v/hich  I  did  not  assail  him.  To  all  my  arguments  he  replied 
that  his  duty  to  his  country  was  to  him  paramount  to  every 
other  consideration,  and  that  he  could  not  justify  to  himself 


1809.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  389 

permitting  Gallatin  to  be  Secretary  of  State  if  his  vote  would 
prevent  it."  "  The  objection  to  him  that  I  understood  had  the 
most  weight,  and  that  was  most  pressed  in  conversation,  was 
that  he  was  a  foreigner.  I  thought  it  was  too  late  to  make  that 
objection.  He  had  for  eight  years  been  in  an  office  of  equal 
dignity  and  of  greater  trust  and  importance." 

But  Leib  and  Giles,  separate  or  combined,  were  not  strong 
enough  to  effect  this  object ;  they  needed  more  powerful  allies, 
and  they  found  such  in  the  Navy  influence,  represented  in  the 
Senate  chiefly  by  General  Smith,  Senator  from  Maryland,  brother 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  brother-in-law  of  Wilson 
Gary  Nicholas.  General  Smith  joined  the  opposition  to  Gal- 
latin. An  eifort  appears  to  have  been  made  to  buy  off  the 
vote  of  General  Smith ;  it  is  said  that  he  was  willing  to  com- 
promise if  his  brother  were  transferred  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  place 
in  the  Treasury,  and  that  Mr.  Madison  acquiesced  in  this  ar- 
rangement, but  Gallatin  dryly  remarked  that  he  could  not 
undertake  to  carry  on  both  Departments  at  once,  and  requested 
Mr.  Madison  to  leave  him  where  he  was.  Mr.  Madison  then 
yielded,  and  Robert  Smith  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  who  at  just  this  moment  was  rejected  as 
minister  to  Russia  by  the  same  combination,  has  left  an  unpub- 
lished account  of  this  affair : 


MADISON   AND    GALLATIN.    1809, 

"  In  the  very  last  days  of  his  [Jefferson's]  Administration  there 
appeared  in  the  Republican  portion  of  the  Senate  a  disposition 
to  control  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  power.  This  was  the  more 
remarkable,  because  until  then  nothing  of  that  character  had 
appeared  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate  during  his  Adminis- 
tration. The  experience  of  Mr.  Burr  and  of  John  Randolph  had 
given  a  warning  which  had  quieted  the  aspirings  of  others,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  an  ineffectual  effort  to  reject  the  nomina- 
tion of  John  Armstrong  as  minister  to  France,  there  was  scarcely 
an  attempt  made  in  the  Senate  for  seven  years  to  oppose  any- 
thing that  he  desired.  But  in  the  summer  of  1808,  after  the 
peace  of  Tilsit,  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia  had  caused  it 


390  LIFE    OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1809. 

to  be  signified  to  Mr.  Jefferson  that  an  exchange  of  ministers 
plenipotentiary  between  him  and  the  United  States  would  be 
very  agreeable  to  him,  and  that  he  waited  only  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  one  from  the  United  States  to  appoint  one  in  return. 
Mr.  Jefferson  accordingly  appointed  an  old  friend  and  pupil  of 
his,  Mr.  William  Short,  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  and 
Mr.  Short,  being  furnished  with  his  commission,  credentials, 
and  instructions,  proceeded  on  his  mission  as  far  as  Paris. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress  he  nominated  Mr. 
Short  to  the  Senate,  by  whom  the  nomination  was  rejected. 
This  event  occasioned  no  small  surprise.  It  indicated  the  termi- 
nation of  that  individual  personal  influence  which  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  erected  on  the  party  division  of  Whig  and  Tory.  It  was 
also  the  precursor  of  a  far  more  extensive  scheme  of  operations 
which  was  to  commence,  and  actually  did  commence,  with  the 
Administration  of  Mr.  Madison. 

"  He  had  wished  and  intended  to  appoint  Mr.  Gallatin,  who 
had  been  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  during  the  whole  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  Administration,  to  succeed  himself  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  who  had  been  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  he  proposed  to  transfer  to  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. He  was  not  permitted  to  make  this  arrangement.  Mr. 
Robert  Smith  had  a  brother  in  the  Senate.  It  was  the  wish  of 
the  individuals  who  had  effected  the  rejection  of  Mr.  Short  that 
Mr.  Robert  Smith  should  be  Secretary  of  State,  and  Mr.  Madi- 
son was  given  explicitly  to  understand  that  if  He  should  nominate 
Mr.  Gallatin  he  would  be  rejected  by  the  Senate. 

"Mr.  Robert  Smith  was  appointed.  This  dictation  to  Mr. 
Madison,  effected  by  a  very  small  knot  of  association  in  the 
Senate,  operating  by  influence  over  that  body  chiefly  when  in 
secret  session,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  which  was  ex- 
ercised over  the  same  body  in  1798  and  1799,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  the  prime  agents  of  the  faction  were  not  then  members 
of  the  body,  and  now  they  were. 

"  In  both  instances  it  was  directly  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution,  and  was  followed  by  unfortunate  consequences. 
In  the  first  it  terminated  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Administra- 
tion and  by  a  general  exclusion  from  public  life  of  nearly  every 


1809.  THE    TKEASTJKY.     1801-1813.  391 

man  concerned  in  it.  In  the  second  its  effect  was  to  place  in 
the  Department  of  State,  at  a  most  critical  period  of  foreign 
affairs  and  against  the  will  of  the  President,  a  person  incom- 
petent, to  the  exclusion  of  a  man  eminently  qualified  for  the 
office.  Had  Mr.  Gallatin  been  then  appointed  Secretary  of 
State,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  war  with  Great  Britain 
would  not  have  taken  place.  As  Providence  shapes  all  for  the 
best,  that  war  was  the  means  of  introducing  great  improvements 
in  the  practice  of  the  government  and  of  redeeming  the  national 
character  from  some  unjust  reproaches,  and  of  strongly  cement- 
ing the  Union.  But  if  the  people  of  the  United  States  could 
have  realized  that  a  little  cluster  of  Senators,  by  caballing  in 
secret  session,  would  place  a  sleepy  Palinurus  at  the  helm  even 
in  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  they  must  almost  have  believed  in 
predestination  to  expect  that  their  vessel  of  state  would  escape 
shipwreck.  This  same  Senatorial  faction  continued  to  harass 
and  perplex  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Madison  during  the  war 
with  Great  Britain,  till  it  became  perceptible  to  the  people,  and 
the  prime  movers  losing  their  popularity  were  compelled  to 
retire  from  the  Senate.  They  left  behind  them,  however,  prac- 
tices in  the  Senate  and  a  disposition  in  that  body  to  usurp 
unconstitutional  control,  which  have  already  effected  much  evil 
and  threaten  much  more." 

Thus  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  advent  had 
been  hailed  eight  years  before  by  a  majority  of  the  nation  as 
the  harbinger  of  a  new  era  on  earth ;  the  Administration  which, 
alone  among  all  that  had  preceded  or  were  to  follow  it,  was 
freighted  with  hopes  and  aspirations  and  with  a  sincere  popular 
faith  that  could  never  be  revived,  and  a  freshness,  almost  a  sim- 
plicity of  thought  that  must  always  give  to  its  history  a  certain 
indefinable  popular  charm  like  old-fashioned  music;  this  Ad- 
ministration, into  which  Mr.  Gallatin  had  woven  the  very  web 
of  his  life,  now  expired,  and  its  old  champion,  John  Randolph, 
was  left  to  chant  a  palinode  over  its  grave:  "Never  has  there 
been  any  Administration  which  went  out  of  office  and  left  the 
nation  in  a  state  so  deplorable  and  calamitous." 

Under  such  conditions,  with  such  followers  and  such  advisers, 


392  LIFE    OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1809. 

Mr.  Madison  patched  up  his  broken  Cabinet  and  his  shattered 
policy ;  broken  before  it  was  complete,  and  shattered  before  it 
was  launched.  He  had  to  save  what  he  could,  and  by  rallying 
all  his  strength  in  Congress  he  succeeded  in  preserving  a  tolerable 
appearance  of  energy  towards  the  belligerent  nations ;  but  in  fact 
the  war-policy  was  defeated,  and  a  small  knot  of  men  in  the 
Senate  were  more  powerful  than  the  President  himself.  The 
Cabinet  was  an  element  not  of  strength  but  of  weakness,  for 
whatever  might  be  Mr.  Smith's  disposition  he  could  not  but 
become  the  representative  of  the  group  in  the  Senate  which  had 
forced  him  into  prominence.  Under  such  circumstances,  until 
then  without  a  parallel  in  our  history,  government,  in  the  sense 
hitherto  understood,  became  impossible. 

Had  Mr.  Gallatin  followed  his  own  impulses,  he  would  now 
have  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet  and  returned  to  his  old 
place  in  Congress.  That  course,  as  the  event  proved,  would 
have  been  the  wisest  for  him,  but  his  ultimate  decision  to 
remain  in  the  Treasury  was  nevertheless  correct.  He  had  at 
least  an  even  chance  of  regaining  his  ground  and  carrying  out 
those  ideas  to  which. his  life  had  been  devoted;  the  belligerents 
might  return  to  reason;  the  war  in  Europe  could  not  last  for- 
ever ;  the  country  might  unite  in  support  of  a  practicable  policy ; 
at  all  events  there  was  no  immediate  danger  that  the  govern- 
ment would  go  to  pieces,  and  heroic  remedies  were  not  to  be 
used  but  as  a  last  resort.  So  far  as  Mr.  Madison  was  concerned, 
the  question  was  not  whether  he  was  to  be  deserted,  but  in 
what  capacity  Mr.  Gallatin  could  render  him  the  most  efficient 
support. 

Suddenly  the  skies  seemed  to  clear,  and  the  new  Administra- 
tion for  a  brief  moment  flattered  itself  that  its  difficulties  were 
at  an  end.  Mr.  Erskine  received  the  reply  of  Mr.  Canning 
to  his  letters  of  December  3  and  4,  and  this  reply  declared  in 
substance  that  if  the  United  States  would  of  her  own  accord 
abandon  the  colonial  trade  and  allow  the  British  fleet  to  enforce 
that  abandonment,  England  would  withdraw  her  orders  in 
council.  This  was,  it  is  true,  a  matter  of  course.  Mr.  Can- 
ning's object  in  imposing  the  orders  in  council,  though  nominally 
retaliatory  upon  France,  had  been  really  to  counteract  Napo- 


1809.  THE     TREASURY.      1801-1813.  393 

leon's  Continental  policy  and  to  save  British  shipping  and  com- 
merce from  American  competition,  and  his  condition  of  withdraw- 
ing the  orders  could  only  be  that  America  should  abandon  her 
shipping  and  employ  British  ships  of  war  in  destroying  her  own 
trade.  Mr.  Erskine,  however,  conceived  that  a  loose  interpreta- 
tion might  be  put  on  these  conditions.  After  communicating 
their  substance  to  the  Secretary  of  State  and  receiving  the  reply 
that  they  were  inadmissible,  he  "  considered  that  it  would  be  in 
vain  to  lay  before  the  government  of  the  United  States  the  des- 
patch in  question,  which  I  was  at  liberty  to  have  done  in  extenso 
had  I  thought  proper." l  He  therefore  set  aside  his  instructions 
and  proceeded  to  act  in  what  he  conceived  to  be  their  spirit.  A 
hint  thrown  out  by  Mr.  Gallatin  that  the  substitution  of  non- 
intercourse  for  embargo  had  so  altered  the  situation  as  to  put 
England  in  a  more  favorable  position  with  reference  to  France, 
served  as  the  ground  for  Mr.  Erskine's  propositions;  but  these 
propositions,  in  fact,  rested  on  no  solid  ground  whatever,  for  in 
them  Mr.  Erskine  entirely  omitted  all  reference  to  an  abandon- 
ment of  the  colonial  trade,  and  while  the  American  government 
professed  its  readiness  to  abandon  that  trade  so  far  as  it  was 
direct  from  the  West  Indies  to  Europe,  this  was  all  the  founda- 
tion Mr.  Erskine  had  for  considering  as  fulfilled  that  condition 
of  his  instructions  by  which  America  was  to  abjure  all  colonial 
trade,  direct  and  indirect,  and  allow  the  British  fleet  to  enforce 
this  abjuration. 

On  this  slender  basis,  and  without  communicating  his  authority, 
Mr.  Erskine,  early  in  April,  1809,  made  a  provisional  arrange- 
ment with  the  Secretary  of  State  by  which  the  outrage  on  the 
Chesapeake  was  atoned  for,  and  the  orders  in  council  with- 
drawn. The  President  instantly  issued  a  proclamation  bearing 
date  the  19th  April,  1809,  declaring  the  trade  with  Great  Britain 
renewed.  Great  was  the  joy  throughout  America;  so  great  as 
for  the  moment  almost  to  obliterate  party  distinctions.  When 
Congress  met  on  May  22,  for  that  session  which  had  been  called 
to  provide  for  war,  all  was  peace  and  harmony ;  John  Randolph 
was  loudest  in  singing  praises  of  the  new  President,  and  no 

1  Erskine  to  Robert  Smith,  14th  August,  1809. 


394  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1809. 

one  ventured  to  gainsay  him.  The  Federalists  exulted  in  the 
demonstration  of  their  political  creed  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  been 
the  wicked  author  of  all  mischief,  and  that  the  British  govern- 
ment was  all  that  was  moderate,  just,  and  injured. 

The  feelings  of  Mr.  Canning  on  receiving  the  news  were  not 
of  the  same  nature.  The  absurd  and  ridiculous  side  of  things 
was  commonly  uppermost  in  his  mind,  and  in  the  whole  course  of 
his  stormy  career  there  was  probably  no  one  event  more  utterly 
absurd  than  this.  His  policy  in  regard  to  the  United  States  was 
simple  even  to  crudeness ;  he  meant  that  her  neutral  commerce, 
gained  from  England  and  France,  should  be  taken  away,  and 
that,  if  possible,  she  should  not  be  allowed  to  fight  for  it.  In 
carrying  out  this  policy  he  never  wavered,  and  he  was  completely 
successful ;  even  an  American  can  now  admire  the  clearness  and 
energy  of  his  course,  though  perhaps  it  has  been  a  costly  one  in 
its  legacy  of  hate.  That  one  of  his  subordinates  should  under- 
take to  break  down  his  policy  and  give  back  to  the  United 
States  her  commerce,  and  that  the  United  States  should  run 
wild  with  delight  at  this  evidence  of  Mr.  Canning's  defeat  and 
the  success  of  her  own  miserable  embargo,  was  an  event  in  which 
the  ludicrous  predominated  over  the  tragic.  Mr.  Canning  made 
very  short  work  of  poor  Mr.  Ersjdne ;  he  instantly  recalled  that 
gentleman  and  disavowed  his  arrangement ;  but  in  order  to  pre- 
vent war  he  announced  that  a  new  minister  would  be  immedi- 
ately sent  out.  Even  this  civility,  however,  was  conceded  with 
very  little  pretence  of  a  disposition  to  conciliate,  and  the  minister 
chosen  for  the  purpose  was  calculated  rather  to  inspire  terror 
than  good-will.  Mr.  Rose  had  at  least  borne  an  exterior  of 
civility,  and  had  affected  a  decent  though  patronizing  benevo- 
lence. Mr.  Jackson  made  no  such  pretensions.  His  feelings 
and  the  object  of  his  mission  were  odious  enough  at  the  time, 
and,  now  that  his  private  correspondence  has  been  published/  it 
can  hardly  be  said  that,  however  insolent  the  American  govern- 
ment may  have  thought  him,  he  was  in  the  least  degree  more 
insolent  than  his  chief  intended  him  to  be. 


1  Bath  Archives.    Diaries  and  Letters  of  Sir  George  Jackson.    See,  among 
other  instances,  Second  Series,  i.  109. 


1809.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  395 

The  news  of  Mr.  Canning's  disavowal  reached  America  in 
July,  and  spread  consternation  and  despair.  Mr.  Gallatin  found 
himself  involved  in  a  sort  of  controversy  with  Mr.  Erskine, 
resulting  from  the  publication  of  Erskine's  despatches  in  Eng- 
land, and,  although  he  extricated  himself  with  skill,  the  result 
could  at  best  be  only  an  escape.  The  non-intercourse  had  to  be 
renewed  by  proclamation,  and  the  Administration  could  only 
look  about  and  ask  itself  in  blank  dismay  what  it  could  do  next. 


GALLATIN   TO  JOSEPH   H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  20th  April,  1809. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  do  not  perceive,  unless  the  President  shall 
otherwise  direct,  anything  that  can  now  prevent  my  leaving  this 
on  Sunday  for  Baltimore.  I  fear  that  Mrs.  Gallatin  will  not  go ; 
she  is  afraid  to  leave  the  children,  who  have  all  had  slight  indis- 
positions. Yet  she  would,  I  think,  be  the  better  for  a  friendly 
visit  to  Mrs.  Nicholson  and  croaking  with  you.  As  you  belong 
to  that  tribe,  I  presume  that,  although  you  found  fault  yesterday 
with  Mr.  Madison  because  he  did  not  make  peace,  you  will  now 
blame  him  for  his  anxiety  to  accommodate  on  any  terms.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  I  hope  that  you  will  get  1  dollar  and  -ffa  for 
your  wheat.  And  still  you  may  say  that  you  expected  two 
dollars.  Present  my 'best  respects  to  Mrs.  Nicholson. 

Yours  truly. 

Eustis  may  have  his  faults,  but  I  will  be  disappointed  if  he  is 
not  honorable  and  disinterested. 


GALLATIN  TO  JOHN  MONTGOMERY. 

WASHINGTON,  27th  July,  1809. 

.  .  .  The  late  news  from  England  has  deranged  our  plans, 
public  and  private.  I  was  obliged  to  give  up  my  trip  to  Belair, 
have  also  postponed  our  Virginia  journey,  and  have  written  to 
Mr.  Madison  that  I  thought  it  necessary  that  he  should  return 
here  immediately.  We  have  not  yet  received  any  letters  from 
Mr.  Pinckney  nor  any  other  official  information  on  the  subject. 


396  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALL  A  TIN.  1809. 

Even  Mr.  Erskine,  who  is,  however,  expected  every  moment,  has 
not  written.  I  will  not  waste  time  in  conjectures  respecting  the 
true  cause  of  the  conduct  of  the  British  government,  nor  can  we, 
until  we  are  better  informed,  lay  any  permanent  plan  of  conduct 
for  ourselves.  I  will  only  observe  that  we  are  not  so  well  pre- 
pared for  resistance  as  we  were  one  year  ago.  All  or  almost  all 
our  mercantile  wealth  was  safe  at  home,  our  resources  entire,  and 
our  finances  sufficient  to  carry  us  through  during  the  first  year 
of  the  contest.  Our  property  is  now  all  afloat;  England  relieved 
by  our  relaxations  might  stand  two  years  of  privations  with  ease; 
we  have  wasted  our  resources  without  any  national  utility ;  and, 
our  Treasury  being  exhausted,  we  must  begin  our  plan  of  resist- 
ance with  considerable  and  therefore  unpopular  loans.  All  these 
considerations  are,  however,  for  Congress ;  and  at  this  moment 
the  first  question  is,  what  ought  the  Executive  to  do  ?  It  ap- 
pears to  me  from  the  laws  and  the  President's  proclamation,  that 
as  he  had  no  authority  but  that  of  proclaiming  a  certain  fact  on 
which  alone  rested  the  restoration  of  intercourse,  and  that  fact 
not  having  taken  place,  the  prohibitions  of  the  Non-Intercourse 
Act  necessarily  revive  in  relation  to  England,  and  that  a  procla- 
mation to  that  effect  should  be  the  first  act  of  the  Executive. 
If  we  do  not  adopt  that  mode,  our  intercourse  with  England  must 
continue  until  the  meeting  of  Congress,  whilst  her  orders  remain 
unrepealed  and  our  intercourse  with  France  is  interdicted  by  our 
own  laws.  This  would  be  so  unequal,  so  partial  to  England  and 
contrary  to  every  principle  of  justice,  policy,  and  national  honor, 
that  I  hope  the  Attorney-General  will  accede  to  my  construction 
and  the  President  act  accordingly. 

The  next  question  for  the  Executive  is  how  we  shall  treat  Mr. 
Jackson;  whether  and  how  we  will  treat  with  him.  That  must, 
it  is  true,  depend  in  part  on  what  he  may  have  to  say.  But  I 
have  no  confidence  in  Canning  &  Co.,  and  if  we  are  too  weak  or 
too  prudent  to  resist  England  in  the  direct  and  proper  manner, 
I  hope  at  least  that  we  will  not  make  a  single  voluntary  conces- 
sion inconsistent  with  our  rights  and  interest.  If  Mr.  Jackson 
has  any  compromise  to  offer  which  would  not  be  burthened  with 
such,  I  will  be  very  agreeably  disappointed.  But,  judging  by 
what  is  said  to  have  been  the  substance  of  Mr.  Erskine's  instruc- 


1809.  THE     TEEASURY.     1801-1813.  397 

tions,  what  can  we  expect  but  dishonorable  and  inadmissible  pro- 
posals ?  He  is  probably  sent  out,  like  Mr.  Rose,  to  amuse  and  to 
divide,  and  we  will,  I  trust,  by  coming  at  once  to  the  point,  bring 
his  negotiation  to  an  immediate  close.  .  .  . 

One  may  reasonably  doubt  whether  during  the  entire  history 
of  the  United  States  government  the  difficulties  of  administra- 
tion have  ever  been  so  great  as  during  the  years  1809-11.  Peace 
usually  allows  great  latitude  of  action  and  of  opinion  without 
endangering  the  national  existence.  War  at  least  compels  some 
kind  of  unity ;  the  path  of  government  is  then  clear.  Even  in 
1814  and  in  1861  the  country  responded  to  a  call ;  but  in  1809 
and  1810  the  situation  was  one  of  utter  helplessness.  The  ses- 
sion of  1808-9  had  proved  two  facts:  one,  that  the  nation  would 
not  stand  the  embargo ;  the  other,  that  it  could  not  be  brought 
to  the  point  of  Avar.  So  far  as  Mr.  Madison  and  his  Admin- 
istration are  concerned,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  they  would  at  any 
time  have  accepted  any  policy,  short  of  self-degradation,  which 
would  have  united  the  country  behind  them.  As  for  Mr.  Gal- 
latin,  he  had  yielded  to  the  embargo  because  it  had  the  sup- 
port of  a  great  majority  of  Congress ;  he  had  done  his  utmost 
to  support  the  only  logical  consequence  of  the  embargo,  which 
was  war.  Congress  had  rejected  both  embargo  and  war,  and 
had  in  complete  helplessness  fallen  back  on  a  system  of  non- 
intercourse  which  had  most  of  the  evils  of  embargo,  much  of 
the  expense  of  war,  and  all  the  practical  disgrace  of  submission. 
He  could  do  nothing  else  than  make  the  best  of  this  also.  The 
country  had  lost  its  headway  and  was  thoroughly  at  the  mercy 
of  events. 

When  studied  as  a  mere  matter  of  political  philosophy,  it  is 
clear  enough  that  this  painful  period  of  paralysis  was  an  inev- 
itable stage  in  the  national  development.  The  party  which  had 
come  into  power  in  1801  held  theories  inconsistent  with  thorough 
nationality,  and,  as  a  consequence,  with  a  firm  foreign  policy. 
The  terrible  treatment  which  the  government  received,  while  in 
its  hands,  from  the  great  military  powers  of  Europe  came  upon 
the  Republican  party  before  it  had  outgrown  its  theories,  and 
necessarily  disorganized  that  party,  leaving  the  old  States-rights, 


398  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1809. 

anti-nationalizing  element  where  it  stood,  and  forcing  the  more 
malleable  element  forward  into  a  situation  inconsistent  with  the 
party  tenets.  Another  result  was  to  give  the  mere  camp-fol- 
lowers and  mercenaries  of  both  parties  an  almost  unlimited  power 
of  mischief.  Finally,  the  Federalist  opposition,  affected  in  the 
same  manner  by  the  same  causes,  also  rapidly  resolved  itself  into 
three  similar  elements,  one  of  which  seriously  meditated  treason, 
while  the  more  liberal  one  maintained  a  national  character.  It 
was  clear,  therefore,  or  rather  it  is  now  clear,  that  until  the  sen- 
timent of  nationality  became  strong  enough  to  override  resistance 
and  to  carry  the  Administration  on  its  shoulders,  no  effective 
direction  could  be  given  to  government. 

That  Mr.  Gallatin  consciously  and  decidedly  followed  either 
direction,  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose.  He  too,  like  his 
party,  was  torn  by  conflicting  influences.  A  man  already  fifty 
years  old,  whose  life  has  been  earnestly  and  arduously  devoted 
to  certain  well-defined  objects  that  have  always  in  his  eyes  stood 
for  moral  principles,  cannot  throw  those  objects  away  without 
feeling  that  his  life  goes  with  them.  So  long  as  a  reasonable 
hope  was  left  of  attaining  the  results  he  had  aimed  at,  or  of 
preventing  the  dangers  he  dreaded,  it  was  natural  that  Mr. 
Gallatin  should  cling  to  it  and  fight  for  it;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  was  a  man  of  very  sound  understanding,  and  little,  if 
at  all,  affected  by  mere  local  prejudices ;  his  ideal  government 
was  one  which  should  be  free  from  corruption  and  violence; 
which  should  interfere  little  with  the  individual ;  which  should 
have  neither  debt,  nor  army,  nor  navy,  nor  taxes,  beyond  what 
its  simplest  wants  required ;  and  which  should  wish  "  to  become 
a  happy,  and  not  a  powerful,  nation,  or  at  least  no  way  powerful 
except  for  self-defence."  On  this  side  he  was  in  sympathy  with 
all  moderate  and  sensible  men  in  both  parties,  and  was  more 
naturally  impelled  to  act  with  them  than  with  his  old  allies, 
who  were  chiefly  jealous  of  national  power  because  it  diminished 
the  sovereignty  of  Virginia  or  South  Carolina. 

To  one  standing,  therefore,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  was  now  standing, 
on  the  verge  of  several  years'  inaction,  out  of  which  the  nation 
could  rescue  itself  only  by  a  slow  process  of  growth,  the  ends  to 
be  attained  and  the  dangers  to  be  feared  would  arrange  them- 


1809.  THE     TEEASUKY.      1801-1813.  399 

selves  almost  axiomatically.  War  was  out  of  the  question,  not 
only  because  both  parties  had  united  against  it,  but  because  the 
Treasury  was  very  rapidly  losing  its  war  fund  and  would  soon 
be  unable  to  promise  resources.  If  peace,  therefore,  were  to  be 
preserved,  the  policy  of  commercial  restrictions  was  the  only 
form  of  protest  practicable,  and  it  must  again  become  the  task 
of  diplomacy  to  re-establish  the  old  Jefferson ian  "  balance"  be- 
tween the  belligerents.  In  other  words,  diplomacy  had  become 
more  important  than  finance. 

Candid  criticism  certainly  tends  to  show  that  the  only  national 
policy  which  had  a  chance  of  success  was  also  the  only  one 
which  had  not  a  chance  of  adoption.  A  sudden,  concentrated, 
and  determined  attack  upon  Bonaparte  would,  in  all  human 
probability,  have  been  successful;  the  Emperor  would  have 
given  way,  and  in  this  case  England  must  also  have  receded ; 
but  this  would  have  been  a  mere  repetition  of  the  Federalist 
policy  of  1798,  and  the  Republican  party  had  no  fancy  for 
Federalist  precedents.  The  behavior  of  Canning  had  roused  so 
bitter  a  feeling  as  to  paralyze  measures  against  Bonaparte,  while 
the  Republican  party  was  as  little  competent  to  imitate  the  dash 
and  stubborn  intensity  of  the  Federalists  as  the  calm  tempera- 
ment of  Mr.  Madison  to  lash  itself  into  the  fiery  impetuosity  of 
John  Adams.  Nothing  remained  but  to  settle  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  mild  protest  which  was  to  be  maintained  against 
the  armed  violence  of  the  two  belligerents,  and,  now  that  the 
doors  of  the  State  Department  were  closed  in  Mr.  Gal  latin's 
face,  his  only  hope  was  to  create  a  new  financial  system  that 
would  serve  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  new  political  situation  as 
Congress  might  ultimately  give  it  shape.  Throwing  behind 
him,  therefore,  all  his  old  hopes  and  ambitions,  all  schemes  for 
discharging  debt  and  creating  canals,  roads,  and  universities,  he 
turned  his  energies  to  the  single  point  of  defending  the  Treasury 
and  resisting  follies.  He  regarded  the  habit  of  borrowing  money 
with  horror ;  this  was  a  resource  to  be  reserved  for  war,  when 
national  life  depended  upon  it ;  until  that  time  came  he  insisted 
that  the  expenditure  should  not  exceed  the  revenue.  The  ex- 
perience of  only  last  winter  had  shown  how  readily  Congress 
wasted  its  resources :  although  Mr.  Gallatin  had  succeeded  in 


400  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALL  A  TIN.  1809. 

partially  checking  the  navy  appropriations,  nearly  three  millions 
were  voted,  and  two  and  a  half  millions  were  actually  spent  on 
the  navy  in  1809,  without  increasing  its  force  or  effecting  the 
smallest  good;  and  meanwhile  the  surplus  upon  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  relied  to  carry  on  the  first  year  of  war  was  rapidly 
vanishing,  while  the  militia  were  not  organized,  the  forts  were 
not  completed,  arms  were  not  on  hand,  and  military  roads  were 
wholly  wanting. 

To  raise  by  taxation,  so  long  as  peace  lasted,  all  the  money 
to  be  spent  by  Congress,  was  the  rule  which  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
now  struggling  to  enforce.  If  Congress  appropriated  money, 
Congress  must  lay  taxes.  To  maintain  this  ground  required 
a  firm,  almost  a  rough  hand,  and  unless  both  the  Cabinet  and 
the  Senate  were  ready  to  support  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
in  his  effort,  his  position  was  untenable,  and  resignation  must 
follow  of  course. 

The  question  whether  the  Cabinet  and  Senate  would  support 
Mr.  Gallatin  was,  therefore,  the  necessary  point  to  decide  in 
advance.  In  the  Cabinet,  Mr.  Robert  Smith  was  the  dangerous 
element.  In  the  Senate,  General  Samuel  Smith  and  his  friend 
Mr.  Giles  were  the  chief  disturbing  forces,  since  without  them 
the  fulminations  of  Leib  and  the  Aurora  offered,  after  all,  no 
very  serious  danger.  Unfortunately,  a  circumstance  had  now  oc- 
curred which  seriously  embittered  the  relations  between  Mr.  Gal- 
latin and  the  Smiths.  The  failure  and  disappearance  of  the  navy 
agent  at  Leghorn  disclosed  a  somewhat  loose 'way  of  managing 
business  in  the  Navy  Department,  which  had  bought  exchange 
on  Leghorn,  largely  in  bills  on  Samuel  Smith  and  his  relations, 
in  excess  of  its  wants,  while  at  the  same  time  it  had  neglected  to 
make  its  naval  officers  draw  on  Leghorn,  so  that  they  had  drawn 
on  London  at  considerable  extra  expense.  Thus,  at  the  close  of 
the  Tripoli  war  a  large  balance  had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
navy  agent  at  Leghorn,  which  was  partly  sent  back  in  specie  to 
America  by  a  ship  of  war,  and  partly  carried  off  by  the  navy 
agent  to  Paris,  where  he  was  arrested  by  the  interposition  of  our 
minister,  General  Armstrong,  and  compelled  to  disgorge.  In  all 
this  there  was  enough  to  irritate  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  had  for  eight 
years  endured,  with  such  patience  as  he  could  command,  the  loose 


1809.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  401 

and  extravagant  habits  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  who  was 
now  making  a  new  effort  to  enforce  a  thorough  system  of  ac- 
countability in  that  department.  But  there  appeared  at  first 
sight  to  be  something  still  more  objectionable  in  this  transaction. 
Mr.  Robert  Smith,  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  had  bought  bills 
of  exchange  to  the  amount  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars,  within 
two  years,  from  his  brother  General  Smith  and  his  connections, 
and  on  the  face  of  the  accounts  it  appeared  that  these  were  to 
some  extent  accommodation  bills ;  in  other  words,  that  the  gov- 
ernment money  had  been  by  collusion  left  in  the  hands  of  Gen- 
eral Smith's  firm  until  it  suited  their  convenience  to  remit  it 
to  Leghorn.  The  effect  of  this  operation  was  to  give  the  firm 
of  Smith  &  Buchanan  the  use  of  public  money  without  obliging 
them  to  make  the  same  immediate  provision  for  honoring  their 
bills  as  would  in  other  cases  have  been  necessary ;  to  give  them 
also  the  almost  exclusive  privilege  of  selling  bills  on  Leghorn, 
and  to  throw  upon  the  public  the  risk  arising  from  protested 
bills.  This  affair  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Gallatin  at 
the  time  when  General  Smith  was,  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  Giles 
and  Dr.  Leib,  forcing  Mr.  Robert  Smith  upon  Mr.  Madison 
as  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  conjunction  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  Wilson  Gary  Nicholas,  overthrowing  Mr.  Gallatin's 
plans  of  public  expenditure.  He  was  very  indignant,  and  ex- 
pressed his  opinions  to  his  friend  Joseph  H.  Nicholson,  who 
made  no  secret  of  the  story  and  used  it  to  prevent  the  re-election 
of  General  Smith  to  the  Senate.  In  the  extra  session  in  June, 
1809,  John  Randolph,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Judge  Nicholson, 
procured  the  appointment  of  an  investigating  committee,  which 
published  the  facts.  Mr.  Gallatin  was  called  upon  for  a  report, 
which  he  made  in  February,  1811.  General  Smith  on  his  side 
made  a  statement  which  certainly  relieved  him  to  a  considerable 
extent  from  the  weight  of  some  of  the  most  doubtful  parts  of  the 
transaction.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  nothing  to  do  with  Judge  Nichol- 
son's proceeding,  and  gave  it  no  encouragement,  but  his  feeling 
in  regard  to  the  scandal  was  very  strong,  and  after  the  attacks 
made  upon  the  Smiths,  both  by  the  investigating  committee  of 
the  House  and  by  the  Baltimore  press,  the  following  exchange 
of  letters  occurred: 

26 


402  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1809. 

GENERAL   SAMUEL  SMITH   TO    GALLATIN. 

BALTIMORE,  2Gth  June,  1809. 

SIR, — I  do  myself  the  honor  to  enclose  two  papers  for  your 
perusal.  The  editors  of  the  Federal  Republican  make  use  of 
your  name  to  bolster  them  up  in  the  nefarious  charge  they  have 
made  against  me,  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit :  "  Mr.  Galla- 
tin,  we  understand,  spoke  of  this  transaction  in  terms  of  great 
indignation."  I  will  not  believe  that  any  of  that  indignation 
could  have  been  directed  at  me.  I  believe  it  impossible  that  any 
man  who  has  the  least  pretensions  to  character  would  commit  an 
act  so  base  as  that  charged  on  me,  to  wit :  "  to  secure  a  debt 
which  I  considered  bad  by  transferring  the  same  to  the  Navy 
Department,  and  thus  involving  the  United  States  in  the  loss." 
Some  time  after  my  house  drew  the  last  bill  (for  I  was  at  Wash- 
ington), an  evil  report  had  been  sent  from  Leghorn  relative  to 
Degen,  Purviance  &  Co.,  in  consequence  whereof  Mr.  Oliver 
(who  had  a  ship  ready  to  sail  to  their  address)  sent  an  agent,  who, 
finding  the  house  in  as  good  credit  as  any  in  that  city,  did  put 
the  cargo  under  their  care.  I  thought  the  house  superior  to  any 
in  Leghorn. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  SMITH. 


GALLATIN   TO   GENERAL   SMITH. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  29th  June,  1809. 

Sm, — I  received  the  day  before  yesterday  your  letter  of  26th 
inst.,  enclosing  two  Baltimore  papers. 

I  have  no  other  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  naval  agency  of  Degen  and  Purviance  than  what  is 
derived  from  their  account  as  stated  by  the  accountant  of  the 
Navy  Department.  The  transaction,  such  as  it  appears  there, 
is,  under  all  its  aspects,  the  most  extraordinary  that  has  fallen 
within  my  knowledge  since  I  have  been  in  this  Department.  It 
has  certainly  left  very  unfavorable  impressions  on  my  mind,  and 
these  have  on  one  occasion  been  communicated  verbally  to  a 
friend.  Yet  I  hardly  need  say  that  I  never  supposed  that  the 


1809.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  403 

bills  had  been  sold  to  government  for  the  purpose  "  of  securing 
a  debt  which  you  then  considered  bad,  and  of  thus  throwing  the 
loss  on  the  United  States."  But  I  did  believe  that  you  had 
drawn  without  having  previously  placed  sufficient  funds  in  the 
hands  of  Degen  and  Purviance,  and  that  they  had  accepted  your 
bilLs  and  passed  the  amount  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States, 
without  having  at  the  time  in  their  hands  sufficient  funds  be- 
longing to  you.  That  this  was  my  impression  you  will  perceive 
by  the  enclosed  extract  of  a  letter  to  Mr.  Armstrong  ;  and  Mr. 
Purviance's  statement,  which  you  enclosed  to  me,  shows  that  I 
was  not  mistaken.  I  do  not  intend  to  comment  on  this  and 
other  circumstances  of  the  case.  Taking  them  altogether,  I 
have  believed  that,  if  we  failed  in  our  endeavors  to  recover  the 
money  from  Degen  and  from  Mr.  Purviance,  we  might  have 
recourse  against  the  drawers  of  the  bills. 

I  am,  sir, 


Such  a  letter  was  not  calculated  to  conciliate  the  Smiths,  and 
appears  to  have  received  no  reply.  General  Smith  ultimately 
secured  his  re-election  to  the  Senate.  As  the  case  stood,  there- 
fore, Mr.  Gallatin  could  count  with  absolute  certainty  upon  the 
determined  personal  hostility  of  General  Smith,  Mr.  Giles,  and 
Dr.  Leib,  backed  by  the  vigorous  tactics  of  Duane  and  the 
Aurora,  and  he  had  to  decide  the  very  serious  question  whether 
he  should  remain  in  the  Cabinet  in  the  face  of  so  alarming  a  party 
defection,  or  whether  he  should  give  way  to  it  and  retire.  On  the 
llth  May,  1809,  he  wrote  to  Judge  Nicholson  that  the  ensuing 
session  would  decide  this  point.  Judge  Nicholson  replied  in  his 
own  impetuous  style:  "Your  retiring  from  office  is  a  subject 
upon  which  I  do  not  like  to  reflect,  because  I  believe  that  .you 
will  be  a  great  public  loss.  It  will  be  a  loss  that  Mr.  Madison 
will  feel  immediately,  but  the  public  will  not  perceive  it  in  its 
full  extent  for  some  years.  When  the  government  gets  entirely 
in  the  possession  of  those  men  who  are  resolved  to  seize  it,  and 
their  selfish  and  mercenary  motives  and  conduct  are  hereafter 
exposed/  as  they  must  be,  the  public  will  then  perceive  how 
important  it  would  have  been  to  retain  a  man  who  was  at  once 
capable  and  honest.  But  I  think,  were  I  in  your  situation,  I 


404  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GAL  LATIN.  1809. 

should  not  continue  in  the  present  state  of  the  Cabinet,  and  I 
should  tell  Mr.  Madison  that  it  was  impossible  to  serve  with 
Mr.  Smith  after  a  development  of  the  late  transaction.  The 
most  perverse  man  must  acknowledge  the  absolute  dishonesty 
that  is  apparent  on  the  face  of  it.  I  have  never  believed  that 
you  took  as  strong  ground  in  the  Cabinet  as  you  ought  to  do, 
and  it  is  time  that  you  should  do  more  than  content  yourself 
with  a  bare  expression  of  opinion.  I  should  say  that  Mr. 
Smith  or  myself  must  go  out,  and  Mr.  Madison  ought  to  know 
you  too  well  to  believe  that  this  contained  anything  of  a  threat. 
If  you  are  disposed  to  continue  in  the  Treasury,  the  Department 
of  State  might  certainly  be  filled  with  an  abler  and  a  better 
man.  Our  love  to  Mrs.  Gallatin.  Tell  her  I  agree  with  her 
that  vice  and  corruption  do  rule  everywhere,  and  it  arises  entirely 
from  the  ill-timed  modesty  of  virtue." 

This  last  paragraph  is  in  reply  to  the  concluding  paragraph 
of  Mr.  Gallatin's  letter:  "Mrs.  Gallatin  says  that  vice  and 
intrigue  are  all-powerful  here  and  there  [in  Baltimore].  I  tell 
her  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward,  and  she  insists  that  that 
language  is  mere  affectation." 

What  Mr.  Gallatin's  frame  of  mind  now  was  may  be  seen 
from  a  letter  to  his  old  friend  Badollet,  whom  he  had  sent  out 
to  the  land-office  at  Vmcennes,  in  the  Indiana  Territory,  and 
who,  discovering  that  vice  and  intrigue  ruled  even  there,  was 
carrying  on  a  fierce  and  passionate  struggle  with  General  W.  H. 
Harrison,  the  governor,  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  negro 
slavery. 

GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

WASHINGTON,  12th  May,  1809. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  7th  March,  and  am  as  desirous 
as  yourself  of  a  refreshing  interview.  The  summer  session  has 
prevented  my  going  to  Fayette  this  spring,  but  I  must  go  there 
either  in  August  or  September.  I  cannot  yet  determine  the  pre- 
cise week  or  month,  and  will  not  be  able  to  stay  more  than  four 
or  five  daysr  unless  I  return  at  that  time  with  my  family  for  the 
purpose  of  permanently  residing  there,  which  is  not  impossible, 
though  not  yet  decided  on.  The  decision,  not  to  induce  you  into 


1809.  THE    TKEASUKY.      1801-1813.  405 

mistake,  rests  entirely  with  myself.  Will  it  be  prudent  for  you 
to  incur  the  expense  and  trouble  of  so  long  a  journey  merely  in 
order  to  see  me  ?  It  was  with  regret  that  I  saw  you  go  to  Vin- 
cennes ;  for  I  apprehended  the  climate,  and  I  hated  the  distance. 
But  there  was  no  option.  The  Ohio  representative  claimed  for 
residents  there  the  exclusive  right  of  filling  the  Federal  offices 
in  that  State,  and  it  was  your  express  opinion  that  you  could  not 
subsist  in  Greene  County.  The  same  obstacles  seem  to  oppose  a 
change.  I  see  no  prospect  of  your  being  transferred  to  a  nearer 
district,  and  you  Avill  find  the  same  difficulty  in  supporting  your 
family  in  case  you  should  return  to  Pennsylvania.  Still,  I  not 
only  feel  your  situation,  but  I  think  that  your  happiness  in  the 
eve  of  life  will  in  part  depend  on  our  spending  it  in  the  same 
vicinity.  I  know  that  it  will  be  the  case  with  me.  If  you  can 
perceive  any  means  in  which  I  can  assist  to  attain  that  object, 
state  it  fully  and  in  all  its  details;  that  we  may  attempt  what- 
ever is  practicable,  but  nothing  rashly.  What  would  your 
little  property  in  Indiana  sell  for  ?  What  would  be  the  ex- 
penses of  bringing  your  family  up  the  river?  What  are  the 
precise  ages  and  capacities  of  your  children  ?  I  do  not  know 
what  you  can  do  yourself  without  an  office,  but  I  will  not  pre- 
judge, and  I  earnestly  wish  that  we  may  discover  some  means 
of  reunion. 

As  to  your  squabbles  and  disappointment,  they  are  matters  of 
course.  At  what  time  or  in  what  country  did  you  ever  hear 
that  men  assumed  the  privilege  of  being  more  honest  than  the 
mass  of  the  society  in  which  they  lived,  without  being  hated  and 
persecuted  ?  unless  they  chose  to  remain  in  perfect  obscurity  and 
to  let  others  and  the  world  take  their  own  course,  and  in  that 
case  they  can  never  have  been  heard  of.  All  we  can  do  here  is 
to  fulfil  our  duty,  without  looking  at  the  consequences  so  far  as 
relates  to  ourselves.  If  the  love  and  esteem  of  others  or  general 
popularity  follow,  so  much  the  better.  But  it  is  with  these  as 
with  all  other  temporal  blessings,  such  as  wealth,  health,  &c., 
not  to  be  despised,  to  be  honestly  attempted,  but  never  to  be 
considered  as  under  our  control  or  as  objects  to  which  a  single 
particle  of  integrity,  a  single  feeling  of  conscience  should  be 
sacrificed.  I  need  not  add  that  I  preach  better  than  I  practise. 


406  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1809. 

But  I  may  add  that  you  practise  better  than  I  do,  your  conir 
plaining  of  the  result  only  excepted.  The  purity  with  which 
you  shall  have  exercised  the  duties  of  land-officer  may  be  felt 
and  continue  to  operate  after  you  have  ceased  to  act.  And  if 
you  have  had  a  share  in  preventing  the  establishment  of  slavery 
in  Indiana,  you  will  have  done  more  good,  to  that  part  of  the 
country  at  least,  than  commonly  falls  to  the  share  of  man.  Be 
that  feeling  your  reward.  When  you  are  tired  of  struggling 
with  vice  and  selfishness,  rest  yourself,  mind  your  own  busi- 
ness, and  fight  them  only  when  they  come  directly  in  your 
way. 

Give  my  best  and  affectionate  love  to  your  worthy  wife,  who 
has  been  your  greatest  comfort  in  this  world,  and  on  whose 
judgment  you  may  rely  with  great  safety  in  any  plan  you  may 
form. 

Ever  yours. 

Mr.  Gallatin  did  not  follow  the  advice  of  Judge  Nicholson. 
After  the  summer  session  of  this  year  was  over,  the  sudden  dis- 
avowal by  the  British  government  of  Mr.  Erskine's  arrange- 
ment threw  pressing  burdens  upon  his  shoulders.  In  reply  to 
his  summons  to»  Washington,  Mr.  Madison  wrote  from  Mont- 
pelier  that  he  did  not  think  his  presence  there  necessary.  On  the 
9th  August  the  President's  proclamation  was  issued,  accompanied 
by  a  circular  from  the  Treasury  reviving  the  Non-Importation 
Act,  and  the  country  settled  back  to  its  old  condition  of  chronic 
complaint  and  discomfort.  Nothing  more  could  be  done  till  the 
arrival  of  the  new  British  envoy,  Mr.  Jackson,  and  the  meeting 
of  Congress,  nor  could  energetic  action  be  expected  even  then. 

After  the  proclamation  was  issued,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gallatin 
went  into  Virginia  to  visit  the  Madisons,  and  the  whole  party, 
towards  the  end  of  August,  arrived  at  Monticello.  While  there, 
Mr.  Gallatin  opened  his  mind  fully  to  his  friends,  and  the  trium- 
virate deliberated  solemnly  upon  the  situation.  What  passed 
can  only  be  inferred  from  the  two  following  letters.  No  decisive 
action  was  taken  or  asked.  Mr.  Gallatin  went  no  further  than 
to  explain  his  difficulties,  leaving  Mr.  Madison  to  act  as  lie 
pleased.  • 


1809.  THE    TBEASUEY.     1801-1813.  4Q7 

JEFFERSON  TO   GALLATIN. 

MONTICELLO,  October  11, 1809. 

DEAR  SIK, — .  .  .  I  have  reflected  much  and  painfully  on  the 
change  of  dispositions  which  has  taken  place  among  the  members 
of  the  Cabinet  since  the  new  arrangement,  as  you  stated  to  me  in 
the  moment  of  our  separation.  It  would  be  indeed  a  great  public 
calamity  were  it  to  fix  you  in  the  purpose  which  you  seemed  to 
think  possible.  I  consider  the  fortunes  of  our  Republic  as  de- 
pending in  an  eminent  degree  on  the  extinction  of  the  public 
debt  before  we  engage  in  any  war ;  because  that  done  we  shall 
have  revenue  enough  to  improve  our  country  in  peace  and  defend 
it  in  war  without  recurring  either  to  new  taxes  or  loans.  But  if 
the  debt  should  once  more  be  swelled  to  a  formidable  size,  its 
entire  discharge  will  be  despaired  of,  and  we  shall  be  committed 
to  the  English  career  of  debt,  corruption,  and  rottenness,  closing 
with  revolution.  The  discharge  of  the  debt,  therefore,  is  vital 
to  the  destinies  of  our  government,  and  it  hangs  on  Mr.  Madi- 
son and  yourself  alone.  We  will  never  see  another  President 
and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  making  all  other  objects  subordi- 
nate to  this.  Were  either  of  you  to  be  lost  to  the  public,  that 
great  hope  is  lost.  I  had  always  cherished  the  idea  that  you 
would  fix  on  that  object  the  measure  of  your  fame  and  of  the 
gratitude  which  our  country  will  owe  you.  Nor  can  I  yield  up 
this  prospect  to  the  secondary  considerations  which  assail  your 
tranquillity.  For  sure  I  am,  they  never  can  produce  any  other 
serious  effect.  Your  value  is  too  justly  estimated  by  our  fellow- 
citizens  at  large,  as  well  as  their  functionaries,  to  admit  any  re- 
missness  in  their  support  of  you.  My  opinion  always  was  that 
none  of  us  ever  occupied  stronger  ground  in  the  esteem  of  Con- 
gress than  yourself,  and  I  am  satisfied  there  is  no  one  who  does 
not  feel  your  aid  to  be  still  as  important  for  the  future  as  it  has 
been  for  the  past.  You  have  nothing,  therefore,  to  apprehend  in 
the  dispositions  of  Congress,  and  still  less  of  the  President,  who 
above  all  men  is  the  most  interested  and  affectionately  disposed 
to  support  you.  I  hope,  then,  you  will  abandon  entirely  the  idea 
you  expressed  to  me,  and  that  you  will  consider  the  eight  years  to 
come  as  essential  to  your  political  career.  I  should  certainly  con- 


408  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1809. 

sider  any  earlier  day  of  your  retirement  as  the  most  inauspicious 
day  our  new  government  has  ever  seen.  In  addition  to  the  com- 
mon interest  in  this  question,  I  feel,  particularly  for  myself,  the 
considerations  of  gratitude  which  I  personally  owe  you  for  your 
valuable  aid  during  my  administration  of  public  affairs,  a  just 
sense  of  the  large  portion  of  the  public  approbation  which  was 
earned  by  your  labors  and  belongs  to  you,  and  the  sincere  friend- 
ship and  attachment  which  grew  out  of  our  joint  exertions  to 
promote  the  common  good,  and  of  which  I  pray  you  now  to 
accept  the  most  cordial  and  respectful  assurances. 

GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  November  8,  1809. 

DEAK  SIR, — I  perused  your  affectionate  letter  of  the  llth 
ult.  with  lively  sensations  of  pleasure,  excited  by  that  additional 
evidence  of  your  continued  kindness  and  partiality.  To  have 
acquired  and  preserved  your  friendship  and  confidence  is  more 
than  sufficient  to  console  me  for  some  late  personal  mortifications, 
though  I  will  not  affect  to  conceal  that  these,  coming  from  an 
unexpected  quarter,  and  being  as  I  thought  unmerited,  wounded 
my  feelings  more  deeply  than  I  had  at  first  been  aware  of. 
[Had  I  listened  only  to  those  feelings,  I  would  have  resigned 
and  probably  taken  this  winter  a  seat  in  Congress,  which  as  a 
personal  object  would  have  been  much  more  pleasing  than  my 
present  situation,  and  also  better  calculated  to  regain  the  ground 
which  to  my  surprise  I  found  I  had  lost  at  least  in  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  Legislature.  After  mature  consideration  I 
relinquished  the  idea,  at  least  for  that  time,  in  a  great  degree 
on  account  of  my  personal  attachment  to  Mr.  Madison,  which 
is  of  old  standing,  I  am  sure  reciprocal,  and  strengthened  from 
greater  intimacy ;  and  also  because  I  mistrusted  my  own 
judgment,  and  doubted  whether  I  was  not  more  useful  where 
I  was  than  I  could  be  as  a  member  of  Congress.  All  this 
passed  in  my  mind  before  the  last  session ;  and  the  communi- 
cation which  I  made  to  you  at  Monticello  arose  from  subsequent 
circumstances.] l 

1  The  passages  in  brackets  were  omitted  in  the  final  draft. 


1809.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  409 

Yet  I  can  assure  you  that  I  will  not  listen  to  those  feelings 
in  forming  a  final  determination  on  the  subject  on  which  I  con- 
versed with  you  at  Monticello.  The  gratitude  and  duty  I  owe 
to  the  country  which  has  received  me  and  honored  me  beyond 
my  deserts,  the  deep  interest  I  feel  in  its  future  welfare  and 
prosperity,  the  confidence  placed  by  Mr.  Madison  in  me,  my 
personal  and  sincere  attachment  for  him,  the  desire  of  honorably 
acquiring  some  share  of  reputation,  every  public  and  private 
motive  would  induce  me  not  to  abandon  my  post,  if  I  am  per- 
mitted to  retain  it,  and  if  my  remaining  in  office  can  be  of 
public  utility.  But  in  both  respects  I  have  strong  apprehensions, 
to  which  I  alluded  in  our  conversation.  It  has  seemed  to  me 
from  various  circumstances  that  those  who  thought  they  had 
injured  were  disposed  to  destroy,  and  that  they  were  sufficiently 
skilful  and  formidable  to  effect  their  object.  As  I  may  not, 
however,  perhaps  see  their  actions  with  an  unprejudiced  eye, 
nothing  but  irresistible  evidence  both  of  the  intention  and 
success  will  make  me  yield  to  that  consideration.  But  if  that 
ground  which  you  have  so  forcibly  presented  to  my  view  is 
deserted ;  if  those  principles  which  we  have  uniformly  asserted 
and  which  were  successfully  supported  during  your  Adminis- 
tration are  no  longer  adhered  to,  you  must  agree  with  me  that 
to  continue  in  the  Treasury  would  be  neither  useful  to  the  public 
or  honorable  to  myself. 

The  reduction  of  the  public  debt  was  certainly  the  principal 
object  in  bringing  me  into  office,  and  our  success  in  that  respect 
has  been  due  both  to  the  joint  and  continued  efforts  of  the  sev- 
eral branches  of  government  and  to  the  prosperous  situation  of 
the  country.  I  am  sensible  that  the  work  cannot  progress  under 
adverse  circumstances.  If  the  United  States  shall  be  forced  into 
a  state  of  actual  war,  all  the  resources  of  the  country  must  be 
called  forth  to  make  it  efficient,  and  new  loans  will  undoubtedly 
be  wanted.  But  whilst  peace  is  preserved  the  revenue  will,  at 
all  events,  be  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  and  to  defray  neces- 
sary expenses.  I  do  not  ask  that  in  the  present  situation  of  our 
foreign  relations  the  debt  be  reduced,  but  only  that  it  shall  not 
be  increased  so  long  as  we  are  not  at  war.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
step  out  of  my  own  sphere  and  to  control  the  internal  manage- 


410  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALL  ATI  N.  1809. 

meDt  of  other  Departments.  But  it  seems  to  me  that,  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  I  may  ask  that  whilst  peace  continues  the 
aggregate  of  expenditure  of  those  Departments  be  kept  within 
bounds,  such  as  will  preserve  the  equilibrium  between  the 
national  revenue  and  expenditure  without  recurrence  to  loans. 
I  cannot,  my  dear  sir,  consent  to  act  the  part  of  a  mere  financier, 
to  become  a  contriver  of  taxes,  a  dealer  of  loans,  a  seeker  of 
resources  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  useless  baubles,  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  idle  and  dissipated  members  of  the  com- 
munity, of  fattening  contractors,  pursers,  and  agents,  and  of 
introducing  in  all  its  ramifications  that  system  of  patronage, 
corruption,  and  rottenness  which  you  so  justly  execrate.  I 
thought  I  owed  it  to  candor  and  friendship  to  communicate  as  I 
did  to  Mr.  Madison  and  to  yourself  my  fears  of  a  tendency  in 
that  direction,  arising  from  the  quarter  and  causes  which  I 
pointed  out,  and  the  effect  such  a  result  must  have  on  my  con- 
duct. I  earnestly  wish  that  my  apprehensions  may  have  been 
groundless,  and  it  is  a  question  which  facts  and  particularly  the 
approaching  session  of  Congress  will  decide.  No  efforts  shall 
be  wanted  on  my  part  in  support  of  our  old  principles.  But, 
whatever  the  result  may  be,  I  never  can  forget  either  your 
eminent  services  to  the  United  States,  nor  how  much  I  owe  to 
you  for  having  permitted  me  to  take  a  subordinate  part  in  your 
labors. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  was  obviously  written  not  merely  to 
encourage  Mr.  Gallatin,  but  to  be  shown  to  members  of  Con- 
gress. From  it  one  would  suppose  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  in 
the  moment  of  departure  merely  suggested  the  possibility  of 
his  retirement;  from  Mr.  Gallatin's  reply,  which  has  no  such 
semi-official  reticence,  the  real  import  of  the  conversation,  and 
the  fact  that  it  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Madison,  are  made 
evident. 

"Those  who  thought  they  had  injured  were  disposed  to 
destroy,  and  were  sufficiently  skilful  and  formidable  to  effect 
their  object."  Mr.  Gallatin's  life  for  the  next  four  years  was 
little  more  than  a  commentary  on  this  paragraph.  There  has, 
perhaps,  never  in  our  history  been  a  personal  contest  more 


1809.  THE    TKEASURY.     1801-1813.  411 

determined,  more  ferocious,  more  mischievous  than  this  between 
Mr.  Gallatin,  with  the  Executive  behind  him,  and  the  knot  of 
his  enemies  who  controlled  the  Senate ;  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  to  this  struggle,  complicating  itself  with  the  rising 
spirit  of  young  nationality,  we  owe  the  war  of  1812,  and  some 
of  the  most  imminent  perils  the  nation  ever  incurred.  It  was 
not  unlike  the  great  contest  of  ten  years  before  between  John 
Adams  and  a  similar  group  of  Senators;  it  went  through  a 
similar  phase,  and  in  each  case  the  result  was  dependent  on  the 
question  of  war  or  peace.  There  are  few  more  interesting  con- 
trasts of  character  in  our  history  than  that  between  the  New 
England  President,  with  his  intense  personality  and  his  over- 
powering bursts  of  passion,  confronting  his  enemies  with  a  will 
that  could  not  control  or  even  mask  its  features,  and  "the 
Genevan,"  as  the  Aurora  called  him,  calm,  reticent,  wary,  never 
vehement,  full  of  resource,  ignoring  enmity,  hating  strife.  Per- 
haps a  combination  of  two  such  characters,  if  they  could  have 
been  made  to  work  in  harmony,  might  have  proved  too  much 
even  for  the  Senate ;  and,  if  so,  a  problem  in  American  history 
might  have  been  solved,  for,  as  it  was,  the  Senate  succeeded  in 
overthrowing  both. 

As  Mr.  Gallatin  had  predicted,  the  mission  of  Mr.  Jackson 
proved  to  be  merely  one  more  insult,  and  our  government  very 
soon  put  an  end  to  its  relations  with  him  and  sent  him  away; 
but,  in  doing  so,  Mr.  Madison  expressly  declared  the  undimin- 
islied  desire  of  the  United  States  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with  Great  Britain,  so  that  the  only  eifect  of  this  episode  was  to 
procure  one  year  more  of  delay ;  precisely  the  object  which  Mr. 
Canning  had  in  view.  As  the  country  now  stood,  Mr.  Can- 
ning's policy  had  been  completely  successful ;  he  had  taken 
away  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States,  and  the  United 
States  had  submitted  to  his  will ;  he  had  taken  away  her  sea- 
men, and  she  forced  her  seamen  to  go.  Just  at  this  moment 
Mr.  Canning  himself  was  thrown  out  of  office ;  his  dictatorial 
temper  met  more  resistance  from  his  colleagues  than  from  Amer- 
ica, and  he  found  himself  a  private  man,  with  a  duel  on  his 
hands,  at  the  instant  when  his  administration  of  foreign  affairs 
was  most  triumphant.  His  successor  was  the  Marquess  Welles- 


412  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1809. 

ley,  whose  reputation  for  courtesy  and  liberality  was  high,  and 
therefore  inspired  the  United  States  with  a  hope  of  justice,  for 
even  Mr.  Madison,  as  his  letters  show,  could  never  quite  per- 
suade himself  that  the  British  government  meant  what  its  acts 
proclaimed. 

The  dismissal  of  Mr.  Jackson  immediately  preceded  the  meet- 
ing of  Congress;  the  interval  was  hardly  sufficient  to  supply  time 
for  elaborating  a  new  policy.  The  President's  message,  sent  in 
on  the  29th  November,  1809,  was  very  non-committal  on  the 
subject  of  further  legislation,  and  only  expressed  two  opinions  as 
to  its  character;  he  was  confident  that  it  would  be  worthy  of  the 
nation,  and  that  it  would  be  stamped  with  unanimity.  What 
ground  Mr.  Madison  had  for  this  confidence,  nowhere  appears ; 
and  if  he  was  honest  in  expressing  this  as  an  opinion  rather  than 
as  a  hope,  he  was  very  little  aware  of  the  condition  of  Congress; 
even  Mr.  Jeiferson  never  was  more  mistaken. 

As  usual,  the  task  of  creating  and  carrying  through  Congress 
the  Executive  policy  fell  upon  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  as  usual, 
bowing  to  the  necessities  of  the  situation,  he  set  himself  to 
invent  some  scheme  that  would  have  a  chance  of  uniting  a 
majority  in  its  support  and  of  giving  government  solid  ground 
to  stand  upon.  The  task  was  more  than  difficult,  it  was  im- 
possible. Since  the  war-policy  broke  down  and  the  embargo 
was  abandoned,  no  solid  ground  was  left;  Mr.  Gallatin,  how- 
ever, had  this  riddle  to  solve,  and  his  solution  was  not  wanting 
in  ingenuity. 

His  report,  sent  in  on  December  8,  1809,  for  the  first  time 
announced  a  deficit.  "  The  expenses  of  government,  exclusively 
of  the  payments  on  account  of  the  principal  of  the  debt,  have 
exceeded  the  actual  receipts  into  the  Treasury  by  a  sum  of  near 
$1,300,000."  This  was  a  part  of  the  price  of  the  embargo. 
For  the  next  year  authority  for  a  loan  of  $4,000,000  would  be 
required  in  case  the  military  and  naval  expenditure  were  as  large 
as  in  1809 ;  if  Congress  should  resolve  011  a  permanent  increase 
in  the  military  and  naval  establishments,  additional  duties  would 
be  requisite ;  if  not,  a  continuation  of  the  Mediterranean  Fund 
would  be  sufficient. 

But  the  essence  of  the  report  lay  in  its  last  paragraph.    "  What- 


1809.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  413 

ever  may  be  the  decision  of  Congress  in  other  respects,  there  is  a 
subject  which  seems  to  require  immediate  attention.  The  pro- 
visions adopted  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  non- 
intercourse  with  England  and  France,  particularly  as  modified 
by  the  act  of  last  session,  under  an  expectation  that  the  orders 
of  council  of  Great  Britain  had  been  revoked,  are  inefficient  and 
altogether,  inapplicable  to  existing  circumstances.  It  will  be 
sufficient  to  observe  that  exportation  by  land  is  not  forbidden, 
and  that  no  bonds  being  required  from  vessels  ostensibly  em- 
ployed in  the  coasting-trade,  nor  any  authority  vested  by  law 
which  will  justify  detention,  those  vessels  daily  sail  for  British 
ports  without  any  other  remedy  but  the  precarious  mode  of  in- 
stituting prosecutions  against  the  apparent  owners.  It  is  un- 
necessary and  it  would  be  painful  to  dwell  on  all  the  effects  of 
those  violations  of  the  laws.  But  without  any  allusion  to  tho 
efficiency  or  political  object  of  any  system,  and  merely  with  a 
view  to  its  execution,  it  is  incumbent  to  state  that  from  the  ex- 
perience of  the  last  two  years  a  perfect  conviction  arises  that 
either  the  system  of  restriction,  partially  abandoned,  must  be  re- 
instated in  all  its  parts  and  with  all  the  provisions  necessary 
for  its  strict  and  complete  execution,  or  that  all  the  restrictions, 
so  far  at  least  as  they  affect  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  ought  to  be  removed." 

This  report,  as  already  said,  was  sent  to  Congress  on  the  8th 
December,  1809.  On  the  19th  December,  Mr.  Macon,  from  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  reported  a  bill  which  was  under- 
stood to  come  from  the  Treasury  Department,  and  which  ex- 
plained the  somewhat  obscure  suggestion  in  the  last  lines  of  the 
report.  This  bill,  commonly  known  as  Macon's  bill,  No.  1, 
contained  twelve  sections.  The  1st  and  2d  excluded  English 
and  French  ships  of  war  from  our  harbors ;  the  3d  excluded 
English  and  French  merchant  vessels  from  our  harbors;  the 
4th  restricted  all  importations  of  English  and  French  goods 
to  vessels  owned  wholly  by  United  States  citizens;  the  5th, 
6th,  7th,  and  8th  restricted  these  importations  to  such  as  came 
directly  from  England  and  France;  the  9th  authorized  the  Presi- 
dent to  remove  these  restrictions  whenever  either  England  or 
France  should  remove  theirs;  the  llth  repealed  the  old  non- 


414  LIFE    OP    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

intercourse,  and  the  12th  limited  the  duration  of  the  act  to  the 
4th  March,  1810. 

The  bill  was  in  short  a  Navigation  Act  of  the  most  severe 
kind,  and  met  the  orders  in  council  and  the  French  edicts  on 
their  own  ground.  The  Federalists  at  once  pointed  out  that  the 
measure  was  a  violent  one ;  that  it  would  be  immediately  met  by 
Great  Britain  with  retaliatory  measures,  and  that  the  result  must 
amount  to  a  new  embargo  or  to  war.  To  this  the  supporters  of 
the  bill  replied  that  government  contemplated  such  retaliation  ; 
that  it  was  intended  to  throw  the  burden  upon  England  and 
compel  her  to  carry  it ;  that  Congress  had  tried  an  embargo,  tli3 
principle  of  which  was  non-exportation ;  that  it  had  tried  non- 
intercourse,  the  principle  of  which  was  non-importation;  and 
now,  since  both  these  had  failed,  it  must  try  a  navigation  law 
that  could  only  be  countervailed  by  restrictive  measures  to  be 
carried  out  by  England  herself. 

The  fact  soon  appeared  that  this  bill  was  a  very  difficult  one 
for  its  opponents  to  deal  with ;  it  did  in  fact  strike  out  the  only 
policy,  short  of  war,  which  was  likely  to  bring  England  to  terms, 
and  which,  according  to  Mr.  Huskisson's  assertion  some  years 
later,1  she  has  always  found  herself  powerless  to  meet.  The 
opponents  of  the  bill  at  once  showed  their  embarrassment  in  a 
manner  which  is  always  proof  of  weakness ;  they  adopted  in  the 
same  breath  two  contradictory  arguments;  the  bill  was  too  strong, 
and  it  was  too  weak.  For  the  Federalists  it  was  too  strong;  they 
wished  frankly  to  take  sides  with  England.'  For  Duane  and 
Leib  it  was  too  weak,  a  mean  submission,  a  futile  and  disgrace- 
ful measure ;  not  that  they  wished  war,  for  they  did  not  as  yet 
venture  to  take  that  ground ;  not  that  they  suggested  any  practi- 
cal measure  that  would  stand  a  moment's  criticism ;  but  that  they 
were  decidedly  opposed  to  this  special  plan.  So  far  as  war  was 
concerned,  the  President  was  still  in  advance  of  Congress,  for 
not  only  was  Macon's  bill  a  stronger  measure  than  the  majority 
relished,  but  the  President  was  calling  upon  Congress  to  fill  up 
the  army  and  the  navy,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  was  steadily  pressing 
for  war  taxes. 

i  Speech  of  12th  May,  1826. 


1810.  THE     TKEASURY.      1801-1813.  415 

After  more  than  a  month  of  debate,  Macon's  bill  passed  the 
House  by  73  to  52,  and  went  up  to  the  Senate,  where  it  was  con- 
signed to  the  tender  mercies  of  General  Smith  and  Mr.  Giles. 
On  the  motion  of  General  Smith,  February  21,  1810,  all  the 
clauses  except  the  1st,  2d,  and  12th  were  struck  out  by  a  vote 
of  16  to  11.  The  Senate  debates  are  not  reported,  but  General 
Smith  subsequently  made  a  speech  on  the  bill,  which  he  printed, 
and  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  the  measure  was  feeble, 
and  that  it  was  so  strong  as  to  justify  England  in  confiscating 
all  our  trade.  This  was  the  ground  also  taken  by  the  Aurora. 
General  Smith  proposed  to  arm  our  merchant  vessels  and  furnish 
them  convoy,  a  measure  over  and  over  again  rejected.  By  a  vote 
of  17  to  15  the  Senate  ultimately  adhered  to  its  amendments  and 
killed  the  bill,  Gallatin's  personal  enemies  deciding  the  result. 

Throughout  all  this  transaction  the  Secretary  of  State  had 
acted  a  curious  part.  Silent  or  assenting  in  the  Cabinet,  where, 
notwithstanding  rumors  to  the.  contrary,  there  was  always  ap- 
parent cordiality,  Mr.  Smith's  conversation  out-of-doors,  and 
especially  with  opponents  of  the  Administration,  was  very  free 
in  condemnation  of  the  whole  policy  which  he  officially  repre- 
sented.1 No  one,  indeed,  either  in  or  out  of  the  Cabinet,  pre- 
tended an  enthusiastic  admiration  of  Macon's  bill ;  Mr.  Madison, 
Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Macon  himself,  only  regarded  it  as  "better 
than  nothing,"  and  "  nothing"  was  the  alternative.  Congress 
had  put  the  country  into  a  position  equally  humiliating,  ridicu- 
lous, and  unprofitable ;  it  had  for  two  sessions  refused  to  follow 
the  Administration  and  had  refused  to  impose  any  policy  of  its 
own.  The  influence  of  General  Smith,  solitary  and  unsupported 
except  by  Leib  and  the  Aurora  faction,  now  barred  the  path  of 
legislation  and  held  Congress  down  to  its  contemptible  and 
crouching  attitude  of  impotent  gesticulation  and  rant.  The 
Secretary  of  State  was  a  party  to  his  brother's  acts,  and  although 
too  dull  a  man  to  have  any  distinct  scheme  of  his  own  or  any 
depth  of  intrigue;  although  obliged  to  let  the  President  write 
his  official  papers  and  Mr.  Gallatin  control  both  his  foreign  and 
his  domestic  policy,  he  nevertheless  used  the  liberty  thus  obtained 

1  See  Mr.  Madison's  "  Memorandum."    Writings,  ii.  495-506. 


416  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

to  talk  with  unreserved  freedom  both  to  Federalists  and  discon- 
tented Republicans  about  the  characters  of  his  associates  and  the 
contents  of  his  despatches. 

Thus  the  policy  of  a  Navigation  Act  was  defeated,  and  another 
year  was  lost.  Only  at  the  very  close  of  the  session,  when  it 
became  apparent  that  something  must  be  done,  Mr.  Macon  got 
his  bill  No.  2  before  the  House.  This  was  on  April  7,  and  on 
the  10th  he  wrote  to  Nicholson :  "  I  am  at  a  loss  to  guess  what  we 
shall  do  on  the  subject  of  foreign  relations.  The  bill  in  the  en- 
closed paper,  called  Macon's  No.  2,  is  not  really  Macon's,  though 
he  reports  it  as  chairman.  It  is  in  truth  Taylor's.  This  I  only 
mention  to  you  because  when  it  comes  to  be  debated  I  shall  not 
act  the  part  of  a  father  but  of  a  step-father."  After  a  violent 
struggle  between  the  two  Houses,  a  bill  was  at  length  passed,  on 
May  1,  1810,  which  has  strong  claims  to  be  considered  the  most 
disgraceful  act  on  the  American  statute-book.  It  surrendered  all 
resistance  to  the  British  and  French  orders  and  edicts;  it  repealed 
the  non-importation  law ;  it  left  our  shipping  unprotected  to  the 
operation  of  foreign  municipal  laws ;  it  offered  not  even  a  pro- 
test against  violence  and  robbery  such  as  few  powerful  nations 
had  ever  endured  except  at  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  and  its  only 
proposition  towards  these  two  foreign  nations,  each  of  which  had 
exhausted  upon  us  every  form  of  insult  and  robbery,  was  an 
offer  that  if  either  would  repeal  its  edicts,  the  United  States 
would  prohibit  trade  with  the  other. 

The  imagination  can  scarcely  conceive  of  any  act  more  undig- 
nified, more  cowardly,  or,  as  it  proved,  more  mischievous ;  but 
in  the  utter  paralysis  into  which  these  party  quarrels  had  now 
brought  Congress,  this  was  all  the  legislation  that  could  be 
got,  although,  in  justice  to  Congress,  it  is  but  fair  to  add  that 
even  this  was  universally  contemned.  The  Administration  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  execute  it,  and  to  make  what  it  could  of  the 
policy  it  established. 

In  the  contest  upon  Macon's  bill,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  the  Presi- 
dent's full  support  and  co-operation.  But  in  another  and  to  him 
a  much  more  serious  struggle  he  stood  quite  alone,  and  all  he 
could  obtain  from  the  President  was  that  the  Executive  influence 
should  not  be  thrown  against  him.  The  charter  of  the  United 


1810.  THE     TKEASUKY.      1801-1813.  417 

States  Bank  was  about  to  expire.  In  the  present  condition  of 
the  country,  with  war  always  in  prospect  and  public  and  private 
finances  seriously  disordered,  the  bank  was  an  institution  almost 
if  not  quite  indispensable  to  the  Treasury.  To  abolish  it  was  to 
create  artificially  and  unnecessarily  a  very  serious  financial  em- 
barrassment at  the  moment  when  the  national  existence  might 
turn  on  financial  steadiness.  To  create  a  new  system  that  would 
answer  the  same  purposes  would  be  the  work  of  years,  and  would 
require  the  most  careful  experiments.  The  subject  had  been  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  Gallatin  by  the  Senate,  and  he  had  at  the  close  of 
the  last  session  sent  in  a  report  representing  in  strong  language 
the  advantages  derived  from  the  bank.  He  now  drew  up  a  bill 
by  which  the  existing  charter  was  to  be  considerably  modified ; 
the  capital  raised  to  thirty  millions,  three-fifths  of  which  was  to 
be  lent  to  the  government ;  branch  banks  to  be  established  in 
each  State,  and  half  the  directors  appointed  by  the  State ;  with 
various  other  provisions  intended  to  secure  the  utmost  possible 
advantage  to  the  government.  Parties  at  once  divided  on  this 
question  as  on  the  foreign  intercourse  question,  but  with  a 
change  of  sides.  The  Federalists  favored,  the  old  Republicans 
resisted,  the  bank,  and  General  Smith  resisted  Mr.  Gallatin. 
During  this  session,  however,  little  more  was  done  than  to  in- 
troduce the  bills ;  the  matter  was  then  thrown  aside  until  next 
year. 

These  subjects,  and  a  hasty  report  on  domestic  manufactures, 
occupied  the  session  almost  exclusively,  so  far  as  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  concerned.  When  Congress  rose,  on  the  1st  May,  1810, 
every  one  was  obliged  to  concede  that  a  more  futile  session  had 
never  been  held,  and  the  Aurora  fulminated  against  Mr.  Galla- 
tin as  the  cause  of  all  its  shortcomings.  More  and  more  the 
different  elements  of  personal  discontent  made  common  cause 
against  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  before  the  end  of 
the  year  1810  the  Aurora  and  its  allies  opened  a  determined 
assault  upon  him  with  the  avowed  intention  of  driving  him 
from  office. 

It  was  in  reference  to  these  attacks,  which  incessantly  recurred 
to  the  old  stories  of  1806,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Mr.  Gal- 
latin as  follows : 

27 


418  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

JEFFERSON  TO  GALLATIN. 

16  August,  1810. 

I  have  seen  with  infinite  grief  the  set  which  is  made  at  you 
in  the  public  papers,  and  with  the  more  as  my  name  has  been  so 
much  used  in  it.  I  hope  we  both  know  one  another  too  well  to 
receive  impression  from  circumstances  of  this  kind.  A  twelve 
years'  intimate  and  friendly  intercourse  must  be  better  evidence 
to  each  of  the  dispositions  of  the  other  than  the  letters  of  foreign 
ministers  to  their  courts,  or  tortured  inferences  from  facts  true 
or  false.  I  have  too  thorough  a  conviction  of  your  cordial  good- 
will towards  me,  and  too  strong  a  sense  of  the  faithful  and  able 
assistance  I  received  from  you,  to  relinquish  them  on  any  evidence 
but  of  my  own  senses.  With  entire  confidence  in  your  assurance 
of  these  truths  I  shall  add  those  only  of  my  constant  aftection 
and  high  respect. 

"  The  letters  of  foreign  ministers  to  their  courts"  were  Mr. 
Erskine's  despatches  of  December,  1808,  to  Mr.  Canning,  which 
had  been  printed  in  England,  and,  on  reaching  America,  com- 
pelled Mr.  Gallatin  very  reluctantly  to  make  a  public  denial  of 
their  accuracy.1  They  represented  Mr.  Gallatin  as  acquiescing  in 
the  belief  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  under  French  influence.  Mr. 
Gallatin,  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  Madison,  drew  up  a  paper  correcting 
Mr.  Erskine's  errors,  and  of  course  stimulating  the  attacks  of  the 
Aurora.  To  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  Gallatin  replied : 


GALLATIN  TO  JEFFERSON. 

10th  September,  1810. 

I  need  not  say  how  much  shocked  I  was  by  Mr.  Erskine's 
despatch.  However  reluctant  to  a  newspaper  publication  and 
to  a  denial  on  matters  of  fact,  I  could  not  permit  my  name  to 
be  ever  hereafter  quoted  in  support  of  the  vile  charges  of  foreign 
partialities  ascribed  to  you,  and  I  knew  that  in  that  respect  my 
disavowal  would  be  decisive,  for,  if  my  testimony  was  believed, 
they  did  not  exist,  and  if  disbelieved,  no  faith  could  be  placed 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  475. 


1810.  THE    TEE  ASTIR  Y.     1801-1813.  419 

in  whatever  I  might  be  supposed  to  have  said  to  Erskine. 
Although  I  never  for  a  moment  supposed  that  either  his  letter 
or  any  newspaper  attack  could,  after  so  long  and  intimate  ac- 
quaintance, create  a  doubt  in  your  mind  of  the  sincerity  and 
warmth  of  my  sentiments  towards  you,  or  alter  your  friend- 
ship for  me,  the  assurance  was  highly  acceptable  and  gratefully 
received.  The  newspaper  publications  to  which  you  allude, 
I  have  heard  of,  but  not  seen,  having  not  received  the  papers 
south  of  this  place  [New  York]  during  my  stay  here.  But  I 
had  anticipated  that  from  various  quarters  a  combined  and  malig- 
nant attack  would  be  made  whenever  a  favorable  opportunity 
offered  itself.  Of  the  true  causes  and  real  authors  I  will  say 
nothing.  And  however  painful  the  circumstance  and  injurious 
the  effect,  the  esteem  of  those  who  know  me  and  the  consciousness 
of  having  exclusively  devoted  my  faculties  to  the  public  good, 
and  of  having  severely  performed  public  duties  without  regard 
to  personal  consequences,  will,  I  hope,  support  me  against  evils 
for  which  there  is  no  other  remedy.  Yet  that  a  diminution  of 
public  confidence  should  lessen  my  usefulness  will  be  a  subject 
of  deep  regret. 

Meanwhile,  the  situation  of  affairs  abroad  was  more  and  more 
becoming  the  measure  of  American  politics,  and  the  question  of 
war  or  peace  was  more  and  more  clearly  defined  as  the  turning- 
point  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  life.  The  exhaustion  of  the  Treasury 
was  alone,  for  him,  a  sufficient  argument  against  war.  He  began 
to  believe,  and  he  was  right  in  believing,  that  the  worst  had 
now  passed ;  that,  as  America  could  hardly  suffer  more  humilia- 
tion than  she  had  already  borne,  her  objects  could  perhaps  be 
attained  by  peaceful  methods ;  and  almost  mechanically,  as  the 
government  became  impressed  with  this  conviction,  the  oppo- 
sition, so  far  as  it  was  personal,  tended  to  the  opposite  side,  and 
advocated  war.  There  was  no  other  ground  to  stand  upon, 
unless  they  went  frankly  over  to  the  Federalists,  which  was 
rapidly  becoming  inevitable  if  they  continued  their  old  tactics. 

Curiously  enough,  the  feeble  and  disgraceful  law  of  May  1, 
1810,  known  as  Macon's  law,  had  a  more  immediate  effect  on 
the  situation  abroad  than  any  of  the  stronger  measures  which 


420  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

had  been  tried.  Ever  since  the  repeal  of  the  embargo  on  March 
4,  1809,  England  had  been  the  favored  nation ;  our  people,  in 
fact,  gave  her  our  commerce  on  her  own  terms,  and  were  glad 
to  do  so.  Macon's  law  did  away  with  even  the  pretence  of 
resistance  to  her  authority  on  the  ocean.  Disgraceful  as  such  a 
result  doubtless  was  to  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  United 
States,  it  was  in  its  eifects  on  France  a  very  vigorous  engine,  for 
it  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  taking  active  part  with  Eng- 
land against  her;  and  inasmuch  as  Bonaparte  had  within  his 
limited  range  shown,  if  possible,  somewhat  more  disposition  to 
rob  us,  and  a  still  greater  latitude  of  personal  insult,  than  had 
been  displayed  even  by  Mr.  Canning,  this  result  might  fairly 
be  viewed  with  indifference,  or  perhaps  with  some  slight  satis- 
faction, by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Upon  the  Emperor 
it  acted,  as  with  a  man  of  his  temper  was  not  unnatural,  in  a 
most  decided  manner;  he  was  furious ;  he  seized  all  the  American 
property  he  could  get  within  his  clutches;  he  stormed  at  the 
American  minister,  and  heaped  outrage  upon  insult ;  but  the  fatal 
arrow  could  not  be  shaken  out ;  random  as  the  shot  had  been,  it 
struck  a  vital  spot,  and  Bonaparte  had  to  submit.  The  change 
which  he  was  thus  forced  to  make  illustrates  his  character. 

When  the  Act  of  May  1, 1810,  commonly  known  as  Macon's 
Act,  reached  Paris,  General  Armstrong  communicated  it  inof- 
ficially  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Champagny,  Duke  de 
Cadore,  who  laid  it  before  the  Emperor.  According  to  all  ordi- 
nary theories,  the  Act  of  May  1,  by  which  the  non-intercourse  was 
repealed,  would  work  against  France  and  against  France  alone ; 
by  it  America  abandoned  even  the  pretence  of  resisting  the  abso- 
lute domination  of  England  on  the  seas,  and  accepted  whatever 
commercial  law  she  chose  to  impose.  The  Emperor,  moreover, 
had  no  means  of  counteracting  or  punishing  it.  He  had  already 
resorted  to  the  strongest  measure  at  his  command,  and  seized  all 
the  American  vessels  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  These  were  now 
waiting  condemnation.  The  next  step  was  war,  which  would, 
of  course,  operate  only  to  the  advantage  of  England.  For  once 
Bonaparte  was  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps,  or  at  least  affect  to  do  so. 

On  the  5th  August,  therefore,  the  Duke  de  Cadore  wrote  to 
General  Armstrong  a  letter,  in  which,  with  the  usual  effrontery 


1810.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  421 

of  the  imperial  government,  he  took  the  ground  that  the  Act  of 
May  1  was  a  concession  to  France,  and  that  France  recognized 
its  obligations.  "The  Emperor  loves  the  Americans;"  the 
Emperor  revoked  his  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan,  which,  after 
the  1st  November  next,  would  cease  to  have  effect,  it  being 
understood  that,  in  consequence  of  this  declaration,  the  English 
should  revoke  their  orders  in  council  and  renounce  their  new 
principles  of  blockade,  or  that  America  should  carry  out  the 
terms  of  the  Act  and  cause  her  rights  to  be  respected. 

This  letter  was  curious  in  many  ways,  but  it  is  to  be  observed 
more  particularly  that  while  Macon's  law  required  either  bel- 
ligerent to  "  so  revoke  or  modify  her  edicts  as  that  they  shall 
cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States,"  the 
Emperor  as  a  matter  of  fact  revoked  only  the  Berlin  and  Milan 
decrees,  and  said  nothing  of  others  still  more  offensive,  especially 
the  Rambouillet  decree,  then  only  four  months  old,  under  which 
he  now  held  and  meant  to  continue  holding  possession  of  all  the 
American  property  in  France, — a  decree  unknown  to  Congress 
when  the  law  of  May  1  was  passed. 

Then  came  the  Emperor's  master-stroke,  which  was  to  punish 
the  Americans  for  blundering  into  success.  Long  unknown  to 
our  government,  it  was  only  revealed  by  accident  to  Mr.  Gallatin 
when  minister  to  France  in  1821,  after  Napoleon  and  his  decrees 
had  been  forgotten  by  all  but  the  unhappy  merchants  whom  he 
had  plundered.  At  that  time  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  Napoleon's 
Minister  of  State,  had  been  allowed  by  the  government  of 
Louis  XVIII.  to  return  to  Paris.  He  had  preserved  a  register 
of  the  various  acts  and  decrees  of  Napoleon,  and  was  more  in- 
timate with  their  nature  and  bearing  than  any  one  even  in  the 
government  of  that  time.  To  him  the  claimants  sometimes 
applied  for  copies  of  documents  to  support  their  memorials,  and 
he  furnished  them.  On  one  occasion  they  sought  the  text  of  an 
order  by  which  the  proceeds  of  certain  cargoes  sequestered  at 
Antwerp  were  transferred  to  the  Treasury.  The  Duke  furnished 
what  he  supposed  to  be  the  paper,  and  it  was  brought  to  Mr. 
Gallatin.  The  following  extract  from  his  despatch  of  15th 
September,  1821,  to  the  Department  of  State  explains  what  this 
paper  was,  and  what  his  sensations  were  in  regard  to  it. 


422  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

*'  The  enclosed  copy  of  a  decree  dated  at  Trianon  on  the  5th 
of  August,  1810,  which  has  never  been  published  nor,  to  my 
knowledge,  communicated  to  our  ministers  or  government,  was 
obtained  through  a  private  channel.  ...  It  bears  date  the  same 
day  on  which  it  was  officially  communicated  to  our  minister  that 
the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  would  be  revoked  on  the  first  day 
of  the  ensuing  November,  and  no  one  can  suppose  that  if  it  had 
been  communicated  or  published  at  the  same  time,  the  United 
States  would,  with  respect  to  the  promised  revocation  of  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  have  taken  that  ground  which  ulti- 
mately led  to  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  It  is  indeed  unneces- 
sary to  comment  on  such  a  glaring  act  of  combined  injustice,  bad 
faith,  and  meanness,  as  the  enactment  and  concealment  of  that 
decree  exhibits." 

The  text  of  this  decree  which  proved  how  "  His  Majesty  loves 
the  Americans.  Their  prosperity  and  their  commerce  are  within 
the  scope  of  his  policy ;"  and  which  was  written  with  the  same 
pen  on  the  same  day  as  that  celebrated  declaration  of  Napoleonic 
affection, — the  full  text  of  this  decree  may  be  seen  attached  to 
Mr.  Gallatin's  despatch.1  Under  the  pretext  of  reprisals  for 
American  confiscations  which  had  never  in  fact  been  made,2  it 
confiscated  into  the  imperial  treasury,  without  trial  or  delay,  all 
American  property  in  France,  both  that  which  had  been  already 
sequestered  and  sold,  subject  to  final  judgment,  and  that  which 
was  still  in  the  form  of  merchandise  or  ships  brought  into  France 
previous  to  the  1st  May,  1810,  the  date  of  Macon's  Act.  And 
it  further  provided  that  until  November  1,  when  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  decrees  were  to  be  conditionally  revoked,  American  ships 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  French  ports,  but  not  to  unload, 
and  presumably  not  to  depart,  without  a  permission  from  the 
Emperor. 

When  Mr.  Gallatin,  at  sixty  years  of  age,  used  language  so 
strong  as  that  just  quoted  and  characterized  an  act  as  one  of  com- 
bined injustice,  bad  faith,  and  meanness,  the  world  may  very 
reasonably  conclude  that  he  was  unusually  moved.  On  another 
occasion  he  called  it  "a  mean  and  perfidious  act."  There  was 

1  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  198.  2  Ibid.,  p.  279. 


1810.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  423 

good  reason  why  he  should  have  been  deeply  exasperated  at  the 
discovery,  for  of  that  meanness  and  perfidy  he  was  a  principal 
victim. 

What  share  Mr.  Gallatin  now  had  in  deciding  the  action  of 
the  President  is  unknown.  In  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the 
contrary  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  he  at  least  acquiesced  in  the 
decision  of  the  Cabinet,  yet  not  only  is  it  clear  that  the  letter  of 
Champagny  of  August  5  was  not  a  compliance  with  the  terms 
of  Macon's  Act ;  did  not  revoke  or  modify  Napoleon's  edicts  so 
as  that  "  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the 
United  States/'  and,  therefore,  that  the  President  had  no  legal 
power  to  act  as  though  it  did ;  but  it  is  clear,  from  Secretary 
Smith's  letter  on  the  subject  to  General  Armstrong,  dated  Novem- 
ber 2, 1810,  that  the  President  was  aware  of  the  fact  and  escaped 
it  only  by  strange  subterfuge.  Already  on  the  5th  July  Mr. 
Smith  had  instructed  General  Armstrong  that  "a  satisfactory 
provision  for  restoring  the  property  lately  surprised  and  seized 
by  the  order  or  at  the  instance  of  the  French  government  must 
be  combined  with  a  repeal  of  the  French  edicts,  with  a  view  to 
a  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  such  a  provision  being  an 
indispensable  evidence  of  the  just  purpose  of  France  toward  the 
United  States."  Yet,  on  the  2d  November,  writing  to  General 
Armstrong  that  the  President  had  issued  his  proclamation  against 
England  on  the  strength  of  the  French  revocation  of  the  Berlin 
and  Milan  decrees  alone,  Mr.  Smith  could  only  justify  this  evi- 
dent abandonment  of  his  former  and  correct  ground  by  adding : 
"  You  will,  however,  let  the  French  government  understand  that 
this  has  been  done  on  the  ground  that  the  repeal  of  these  decrees 
does  involve  an  extinguishment  of  all  the  edicts  of  France 
actually  violating  our  neutral  rights.  .  .  .  It  is  to  be  remarked, 
moreover,  that  in  issuing  the  Proclamation  it  has  been  presumed 
that  the  requisition  contained  in  that  letter  [of  July  5],  on  the 
subject  of  the  sequestered  property,  will  have  been  satisfied ;"  and 
the  writer  goes  on  to  show  on  what  evidence  this  presumption 
rested. 

That  is  to  say,  President  Madison  did  an  act  which  he  recog- 
nized as  one  of  doubtful  propriety,  on  the  ground  of  two  assump- 
tions of  fact,  neither  of  which  had  the  smallest  foundation. 


424  LIFE    Or    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1810. 

These  objections  and  criticisms  were  made  at  the  time,  and  they 
were  semi-officially  answered  by  Joel  Barlow  in  the  National 
Intelligencer  of  July  9,  1811,  by  drawing  a  distinction  between 
"belligerent  maritime  edicts  violating  our  neutral  rights,  and 
edicts  authorizing  other  depredations  on  the  property  of  our 
citizens."  The  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  it  appears,  were  mari- 
time; the  Rambouillet  decree  was  municipal,  not  a  violation 
of  our  neutral  rights  contemplated  by  Macon's  Act.  Similar 
British  depredations  had  been  disregarded  in  accepting  Erskine's 
arrangement. 

If  this  were  the  case  in  November,  Mr.  Madison  would  have 
done  better  not  to  have  said  in  July  that  a  revocation  of  the 
Rambouillet  decree  was  an  indispensable  evidence  of  the  Empe- 
ror's intentions,  and  also  that  he  assumed,  on  the  part  of  the 
French  government,  an  extinguishment  of  all  its  edicts  and  a 
restoration  of  the  sequestered  property  as  the  ground  of  his 
proclamation.  Moreover,  if  this  were  the  case,  it  is  not  quite 
plain  why  Mr.  Gallatin  should  have  declared  in  1821  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  secret  Trianon  decree  would  have  prevented 
Mr.  Madison  from  issuing  that  proclamation.  The  Trianon 
decree  was  merely  the  authority  for  acts  which  were  notorious. 

Although  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  evidence  to  show  what 
Mr.  Gallatin's  opinions  on  this  question  were,  yet  the  result 
of  the  decision  was  so  important  in  its  ultimate  bearings  upon 
his  fortune  that  the  subject  could  not  be  left  unmentioned.  In 
Mr.  Madison's  private  letters  of  this  time  there  is  a  disposition 
clearly  evident  to  subordinate  all  other  considerations  to  the 
object  of  bringing  England  to  terms,  and  this  doubtless  was 
the  tendency  of  public  feeling.  Acting  on  this  principle,  the 
Administration  decided  that  Champagny's  announcement  of  the 
intended  revocation  of  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  was  a  suf- 
ficient fulfilment  of  the  terms  of  Maeon's  Act,  and  accordingly, 
on  the  1st  November,  issued  the  proclamation  to  that  effect. 
Simultaneously  Mr.  Gallatin  issued  a  circular  to  the  collectors 
announcing  that  after  the  2d  February,  1811,  all  intercourse 
with  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies  would  cease. 

In  this  there  was  nothing  unfair  to  England.  Napoleon  had 
in  appearance  been  compelled  to  give  way,  and  the  United  States 


I 


1810.  THE    TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  425 

had  a  perfect  right  to  make  the  most  of  her  success.  If  in  doing 
so  she  submitted  to  more  robbery,  this  was  no  more  than  she 
had  done  when  she  had  attempted  similar  arrangements  with 
England ;  it  was  less  than  she  had  done  every  day  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  in  submitting  to  the  impressments  of  her  seamen 
for  the  benefit  of  the  British  navy.  Nevertheless,  the  ground  on 
which  she  stood  was  very  weak  as  regarded  argument,  for  there 
could  be  no  reasonable  doubt  then,  any  more  than  there  was  ten 
years  later,  that  Bonaparte  had  acted  a  "  mean  and  perfidious" 
part,  and  yet  she  called  upon  England  to  act  as  though  it  were 
an  honest  one.  England  rightly  enough  replied  that  Napoleon 
was  attempting  another  fraud  to  which  England  would  not  be  a 
party ;  thus  the  situation  was  rendered  more  critical  than  ever, 
and  Napoleon,  by  a  course  of  conduct  which  was  precisely  what 
Mr.  Gallatin  described  it  in  1821,  plunged  the  United  States 
into  a  war  with  England  on  ground  that,  so  far  as  France  was 
concerned,  would  not  bear  examination. 

Though  there  is  reason  to  regret  that  Mr.  Madison  should 
have  made  himself  so  eagerly  the  dupe  of  Napoleon,  and  though 
there  seems  to  be  something  surprising  in  the  irritation  of  Mr. 
Gallatin  on  discovering  only  one  among  the  many  instruments 
of  the  Emperor's  duplicity,  the  good  faith  of  the  American  gov- 
ernment cannot  fairly  be  called  in  question.  The  situation  of 
the  United  States  as  regarded  England  was  intolerable,  and 
Mr.  Madison  snatched  at  any  fair  expedient  to  escape  it.  Eng- 
land alleged  that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  were  the  cause 
of  her  orders  in  council.  The  United  States,  by  a  lucky  stroke 
of  legislation,  compelled  Napoleon  to  promise  revocation  of  those 
decrees  on  a  certain  day,  and  then  turned  that  promise  against 
England.  England  refused  belief  in  it,  which  was  reasonable 
enough,  but  in  reality  had  those  decrees  been  the  only  cause  of 
the  orders  in  council,  the  alleged  revocation  would  have  afforded 
ample  excuse  for  England's  concession.  On  both  sides  the  diplo- 
matic veil  was  transparent.  Napoleon,  in  fact,  had  not  revoked 
his  decrees,  as  he  unblushingly  avowed  within  the  next  year, 
while  England  cared  nothing  for  those  decrees,  except  so  far  as 
they  were  mere  municipal  regulations ;  so  far  as  they  violated 
international  law  on  the  ocean  they  were,  indeed,  quite  ineffect- 


426  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1811. 

ive.  England's  real  object  was  to  maintain  her  clutch  on 
American  shipping  and  sailors. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  affairs  when  Congress  met  on  the 
3d  December,  1810.  One  more  step  had  been  taken,  but  no 
man  could  certainly  say  whether  it  was  towards  a  solution. 
Meanwhile,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  burdened  with  an  undertaking 
that  plunged  him  deeper  into  the  miserable  complications  of 
political  warfare,  disorganizing  his  followers  and  his  friends, 
stimulating  personal  hostilities,  and  yet  leaving  him  no  choice 
of  action.  The  question  of  the  bank  charter  was  to  be  decided 
this  winter  before  the  Congress  expired  on  the  4th  March,  1811. 
As  a  matter  of  public  welfare,  more  especially  in  the  situation 
the  country  now  occupied,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  obliged  to  do  his 
utmost  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  the  bank.  It  was  no  mere 
matter  of  party  or  of  personal  feeling ;  the  bank  at  that  moment 
was  essential  to  public  safety ;  to  lose  it  might  be  a  question  of 
national  life. 

Every  argument  which  Mr.  Gallatin  could  use  was  put  to  the 
service  of  the  bill.  He  Avas  its  open  and  earnest  advocate  both 
in  his  special  reports  and  in  his  conversation,  yet  even  the  ma- 
lignity of  the  Aurora  and  the  less  bitter  but  perhaps  more  dan- 
gerous hostility  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  failed  to  find  in  them 
a  single  expression  that  could  be  made  to  rouse  personal  irritation 
or  popular  feeling.  He  conducted  his  case  with  all  his  usual 
temper,  tact,  and  persistence ;  it  is  due  also  to  his  opponents  in 
Congress  to  say  that  they  avoided  personal  attacks  upon  him,  at 
least  for  the  most  part,  and  left  vituperation  to  the  press.  Not 
the  less,  however,  was  it  distinctly  understood  that  the  bank  was 
the  test  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  power ;  that  its  overthrow  was  one  and 
the  most  important  step  towards  driving  him  from  office ;  and 
that  nothing  less  than  the  overshadowing  growth  of  his  influence 
could  possibly  make  the  continued  existence  of  the  bank  even  a 
subject  of  discussion  in  the  Republican  party. 

The  debate  in  the  House  was  long  and  able,  but  when  a  vote 
was  reached  on  January  24, 1811,  the  numbers  stood  65  to  64  in 
favor  of  indefinite  postponement.  Many  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  best 
friends  voted  with  the  majority ;  the  Federalists  in  a  mass  voted 
on  his  side ;  his  personal  enemies  turned  the  scale.  Whatever 


1811.  THE    TREASUKY.     1801-1813.  427 

Mr.  Gallatin's  feelings  were  at  this  defeat,  he  made  no  display  of 
them  even  to  his  intimates.  On  the  28th  January,  Mr.  Macon 
wrote  to  Judge  Nicholson :  "  I  was  at  Gallatin's  yesterday ;  all 
well.  He  is,  I  fear,  rather  mortified  at  the  indefinite  postpone- 
ment of  the  bill  to  renew  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  I  am  really  sorry  that  my  best  judgment  compelled  me 
on  that  question  to  vote  agreeable  to  what  I  believe  to  be  the 
anxious  wish  of  the  invisibles.  Mr.  Madison  was  at  the  last 
session,  I  am  informed,  in  favor  of  the  renewal ;  that  he  con- 
sidered it,  according  as  my  informant  gave  his  words,  res  adjudi- 
cata.  What  cause  has  produced  the  change  in  his  mind  I  have 
not  heard.  I  have  also  been  told  that  Mr.  Giles  was  of  the  same 
opinion  then  and  that  he  also  has  changed.  These  are  natural 
rights,  and  ought  to  be  exercised  whenever  the  mind  is  convinced 
that  opinions  are  founded  in  error;  but  when  great  men,  or 
rather  men  in  high,  responsible  stations,  change  their  deliberate 
opinions  it  seems  to  me  that  they  in  some  way  or  other  ought 
to  give  the  reason  of  the  change.  I  incline  to  think  that  Mr. 
Madison's  opinion  last  winter  had  a  good  deal  of  weight,  and  it 
is  presumed  it  may  have  been  the  means  of  inducing  a  few 
members  to  take  pretty  strong  hold  of  the  constitutional  side  of 
the  question.  Now  that  he  has  changed,  they  are  thrown  with 
Gallatin  on  the  Federal  side  of  the  question.  I  also  incline  to 
think  that  his  present  opinion  has  had  some  weight  in  the  late 
decision." 

Mr.  Macon  was  probably  mistaken  in  thinking  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  changed  his  position ;  the  letter  is  curious  as  showing 
what  confusion  Mr.  Madison's  course  created,  but  the  story  itself 
was  apparently  a  mere  rumor  set  afloat  by  the  enemies  of  the 
bank,  those  "  invisibles,"  as  the  Smith  faction  were  significantly 
called  by  Mr.  Macon  and  his  friends,  and  whose  alliance  with  the 
Aurora  was  now  complete.  A  few  days  later,  on  the  9th  Feb- 
ruary, Mr.  Macon  wrote :  "  It  seems  to  me  not  very  improbable 
that  Mr.  Madison's  Administration  may  end  something  like  Mr. 
Adams's.  He  may  endeavor  to  go  on  with  the  government  with 
men  in  whom  he  has  not  perfect  confidence,  until  they  break  him 
down,  and  then,  as  John  did,  turn  them  out  after  he  has  suffered 
all  that  they  can  do  to  injure  him.  It  is  true,  if  he  means  ever 


428  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    G  ALL  ATIN.  1811. 

to  turn  out,  he  has  now  delayed  it  almost  too  long,  because  the 
senatorial  elections  are  over,  while  these  people  retained  their 
influence,  if  they  can  be  said  to  have  a  fixed  influence  in  the 
nation." 

Meanwhile  the  debate  on  the  bank  charter  had  begun  in  the 
Senate,  and  a  curious  debate  it  was.  Mr.  William  H.  Crawford, 
of  Georgia,  appeared  as  Mr.  Gallatin's  champion,  and  supported 
the  charter  with  such  energy,  courage,  and  ability  as  earned  Mr. 
Gallatin's  lasting  gratitude,  and  made  Mr.  Crawford  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Administration  in  the  Senate,  and  the  favorite 
candidate  of  the  Jeffersonian  triumvirate  for  succession  to  the 
Presidency.  Mr.  Giles,  on  the  other  hand,  spoke  judicially. 
The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  like  the  Legislatures  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Kentucky,  had  instructed  their  Senators  to  vote  against 
the  charter.  Mr.  Giles  declared  himself  a  representative  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  not  a  mere  agent  of  the  Virginia 
Legislature,  and  his  speech  was  an  elaborate  effort  at  candid 
investigation,  unaffected,  as  he  averred,  by  his  personal  senti- 
ments towards  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  But  he,  too,  at 
last  concluded  that  the  bank  was  a  British  institution,  which  had 
not  prevented  the  orders  in  council  or  the  attack  on  the  Chesa- 
peake, and  therefore  should  be  suppressed.  He  admitted  that 
the  time  was  inauspicious  for  putting  an  end  to  the  establishment, 
but  the  danger  from  British  influence  was  greater  than  the  dan- 
ger from  financial  confusion.  Henry  Clay,  the  young  Senator 
from  Kentucky,  followed  and  ridiculed  the  ponderous  Mr.  Giles, 
who  had  "  certainly  demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who 
heard  him,  both  that  it  was  constitutional  and  unconstitutional, 
highly  proper  and  improper,  to  prolong  the  charter  of  the  bank." 
Mr.  Clay  was  not  disposed  to  enlist  with  Mr.  Giles  in  factious 
opposition  to  the  government,  but  he  was  still  less  disposed  to 
join  Mr.  Crawford  in  its  support ;  he  hotly  denied  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  charter,  and,  like  Mr.  Giles,  he  declared  that  the 
bank  was  responsible  for  not  preventing  impressments  and  orders 
in  council.  Then  General  Smith,  in  %  speech  covering  two  days, 
proved  that  the  whole  theory  of  the  usefulness  of  a  national 
bank  was  a  delusion  ;  that  State  institutions  were  better  deposi- 
taries of  the  public  money ;  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 


1811. 


THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813. 


429 


was  quite  mistaken  in  all  his  statements  about  the  convenience 
of  the  bank,  even  in  regard  to  remittances,  and  knew  nothing 
about  foreign  exchange;  that  no  possible  trouble  could  arise 
from  abolishing  the  bank;  and  that  the  constitutional  objection 
was  final. 

On  the  20th  February,  1811,  the  Senate  reached  a  vote.  It 
was  17  to  17,  and  the  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  whose 
personal  hostility  to  the  President  was  notorious,  decided  the 
question  in  the  negative.  Among  the  votes  which  then  settled 
the  fate  of  the  bank,  and  incidentally  the  fate  of  Mr.  Gallatin, 
were  those  of  Joseph  Anderson,  of  Tennessee,  Henry  Clay,  of 
Kentucky,  William  B.  Giles,  of  Virginia,  Michael  Leib,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Samuel  Smith,  of  Maryland.  Readers  who 
are  curious  in  matters  of  biography  will  naturally  ask  how  the 
opinions  of  these  men  stood  the  test  of  time.  Less  than  four 
years  later,  after  Mr,  Gallatin  had  been  fairly  driven  from  the 
Treasury,  his  most  intimate  friend,  Alexander  J.  Dallas,  was 
called  to  fill  the  place.  Government  was  bankrupt,  the  currency 
in  frightful  disorder,  and  loans  impracticable.  Mr.  Dallas,  as 
his  last  resource,  insisted  upon  a  bank,  and  he  got  it.  Michael 
Leib  was  then  no  longer  in  the  Senate ;  his  political  career  had 
come  to  an  untimely  end.  Gideon  Granger,  Postmaster-General, 
and  one  of  the  factious  number,  had  exhausted  President  Mad- 
ison's patience  by  appointing  Leib  postmaster  at  Philadelphia, 
and  had  lost  his  office  in  consequence ;  Leib  was  removed,  and 
disappeared  into  political  obscurity.  Giles  was  consistent  in 
opposing  the  bank,  and  in  1816,  so  soon  as  his  senatorial  term 
expired,  he  too  subsided  into  obscurity,  from  which  he  only 
rescued  himself  by  his  success  in  using  the  same  tactics  against 
John  Quincy  Adams  that  he  had  used  against  Albert  Gallatin. 
Anderson,  Clay,  and  Smith  have  left  their  names  recorded  among 
the  supporters  of  the  new  charter. 

Thus,  in  the  face  of  difficulties  and  dangers  such  as  might 
well  have  appalled  the  wisest  head  and  the  stoutest  heart,  the 
Legislature  deprived  the  Executive  of  the  only  efficient  financial 
agent  it  had  ever  had.  What  the  financial  consequences  of 
destroying  the  bank  actually  were  will  be  seen  presently ;  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  Congress  acted  in  this  instance  with  a  degree 


430  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LATIN.  1811. 

of  factious  incompetence  that  cost  the  nation  infinite  loss  and 
trouble,  and  was  not  far  from  imperilling  its  existence.  No  one 
knew  better  than  Mr.  Giles,  General  Smith,  and  George  Clinton 
that  whatever  the  objections  to  a  bank  might  be,  this  was  no 
time  to  destroy  it,  and  even  Henry  Clay,  with  all  his  youthful 
self-confidence,  had  intelligence  enough  to  make  him  inexcusable 
in  refusing  to  prolong,  if  only  for  a  very  few  years,  the  existence 
of  an  agent  which  the  Treasury  considered  indispensable,  in  the 
face  of  a  war  which  he  was,  against  the  will  of  the  Administra- 
tion, forcing  upon  its  hands. 

John  Randolph  was  one  of  those  who  saw  most  clearly  through 
the  intrigues  that  beset  the  government.  Never  strong  in  com- 
mon sense,  Randolph's  mind  was  yielding  more  and  more  to 
those  aberrations  which  marked  his  later  years.  Though  all 
intimacy  of  relation  between  the  two  men  had  long  ceased, 
Randolph  had  yet  preserved  as  much  respect  for  Gallatin  as 
his  universal  misanthropy  permitted,  while  at  the  same  time 
his  contempt  for  "the  invisibles"  was  unbounded.  Whatever 
mistakes  Randolph  made,  he  at  least  never  descended  so  low  as 
to  make  the  Aurora  his  ally.  On  the  14th  February  he  wrote 
to  Judge  Nicholson :  "  Giles  made  this  morning  the  most  unin- 
telligible speech  on  the  subject  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
that  I  ever  heard.  He  spoke  upwards  of  two  hours ;  seemed 
never  to  understand  himself  (except  upon  one  commonplace 
topic  of  British  influence),  and  consequently  excited  in  his 
hearers  no  other  sentiment  but  pity  or  disgust.  But  I  shall 
not  be  surprised  to  see  him  puffed  in  all  the  newspapers  of  a 
certain  faction.  The  Senate  have  rejected  the  nomination  of 
Alex.  Wolcott  to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court — 24  to  9. 
The  President  is  said  to  have  felt  great  mortification  at  this 
result.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  he  is  President  dejure  only. 
Who  exercises  the  office  de  facto  I  know  not,  but  it  seems  agreed 
on  all  hands  that  '  there  is  something  behind  the  throne  greater 
than  the  throne  itself.'  I  cannot  help  differing  with  you  re- 
specting [Gallatinjs  resignation.  If  his  principal  will  not  sup- 
port him  by  his  influence  against  the  cabal  in  the  ministry  itself, 
as  well  as  out  of  it,  a  sense  of  self-respect,  it  would  seem  to  me, 
ought  to  impel  him  to  retire  from  a  situation  where,  with  a 


1811.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  431 

tremendous  responsibility,  he  is  utterly  destitute  of  power.  Our 
Cabinet  presents  a  novel  spectacle  in  the  political  world;  divided 
against  itself,  and  the  most  deadly  animosity  raging  between  its 
principal  members,  what  can  come  of  it  but  confusion,  mischief, 
and  ruin?  Macon  is  quite  out  of  heart.  I  am  almost  indifferent 
to  any  possible  result.  Is  this  wisdom  or  apathy  ?  I  fear  the 
latter." 

A  few  hours  later  he  added :  "  Since  I  wrote  to  you  to-night, 
Stanford  has  shown  me  the  last  Aurora, — a  paper  that  I  never 
read,  but  I  could  not  refrain,  at  his  instance,  from  casting  my 
eyes  over  some  paragraphs  relating  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Surely,  under  such  circumstances,  Mr.  G.  can  no 
longer  hesitate  how  to  act.  It  appears  to  me  that  only  one 
course  is  left  to  him, — to  go  immediately  to  the  P.,  and  to  de- 
mand either  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  [Smith]  or  his  own.  !STo  man 
can  doubt  by  whom  this  machinery  is  put  in  motion.  There  is 
no  longer  room  to  feign  ignorance  or  to  temporize.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  say  to  you  that  I  am  not  through  you  addressing 
myself  to  another.  My  knowledge  of  the  interest  which  you 
take  not  merely  in  the  welfare  of  Mr.  G.,  but  in  that  of  the 
State,  induces  me  to  express  myself  to  you  on  this  subject.  I 
wish  you  would  come  up  here.  There  are  more  things  in  this 
world  of  intrigue  than  you  wot  of,  and  I  should  like  to  com- 
mune with  you  upon  some  of  them." 

Again,  on  February  17,  Randolph  wrote:  "I  am  not  con- 
vinced by  your  representations  respecting  [Gallatin],  although 
they  are  not  without  weight.  Surely  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
point  out  to  the  President  the  impossibility  of  conducting  the 
affairs  of  the  government  with  such  a  counteraction  in  the  very 
Cabinet  itself,  without  assuming  anything  like  a  disposition  to 
dictate.  Things  as  they  are  cannot  go  on  much  longer.  The 
Administration  are  now  in  fact  aground  at  the  pitch  of  high 
tide,  and  a  spring  tide  too.  Nothing,  then,  remains  but  to 
lighten  the  ship,  which  a  dead  calm  has  hitherto  kept  from 
going  to  pieces.  If  the  cabal  succeed  in  their  present  projects, 
and  I  see  nothing  but  promptitude  and  decision  that  can  pre- 
vent it,  the  nation  is  undone.  The  state  of  affairs  for  some  time 
past  has  been  highly  favorable  to  their  views,  which  at  this 


432  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1811. 

moment  are  more  flattering  than  ever.  I  am  satisfied  that 
Mr.  G.,  by  a  timely  resistance  to  their  schemes,  might  have 
defeated  them  and  rendered  the  whole  cabal  as  impotent  as 
nature  would  seem  to  have  intended  them  to  be,  for  in  point  of 
ability  (capacity  for  intrigue  excepted)  they  are  utterly  contempt- 
ible and  insignificant." 

Randolph  did  not  know  that  even  as  early  as  the  autumn  of 
1809  Mr.  Gallatin  had  strained  his  influence  to  the  utmost  to 
offer  "  timely  resistance  to  their  schemes ;"  and  even  Randolph, 
on  reflection,  doubted  "  whether  Madison  will  be  able  to  meet 
the  shock  of  the  Aurora,  Whig,  Enquirer,  Boston  Patriot,  &c., 
&c. ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that,  beaten  in  detail  by  the 
superior  activity  and  vigor  of  the  Smiths,  he  may  sink  ulti- 
mately into  their  arms,  and  unquestionably  will,  in  that  case, 
receive  the  law  from  them." 

In  all  this  confusion  one  thing  was  clear, — Mr.  Gallatin's 
usefulness  was  exhausted.  There  are  moments  in  politics  when 
great  results  can  be  reached  only  by  small  men, — a  maxim 
which,  however  paradoxical,  may  easily  be  verified.  Especially 
in  a  democracy  the  people  are  apt  to  become  impatient  of  rule, 
and  will  at  times  obstinately  refuse  to  move  at  the  call  of  a 
leader,  when,  if  left  to  themselves,  they  will  blunder  through  all 
obstacles,  blindly  enough,  it  is  true,  but  effectually.  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  now  an  impediment  to  government,  even  though  it  was 
conceded  that  the  Treasury  could  not  go  on  without  him ;  that 
the  party  contained  no  man  who  could  fill  his  place ;  that  if  he 
retired,  confusion  must  ensue.  To  Mr.  Madison  the  loss  would 
of  course  be  extremely  embarrassing ;  for  ten  years  Gallatin  had 
taken  from  the  President's  shoulders  the  main  burden  of  internal 
administration  and  a  large  part  of  the  responsibilities  of  foreign 
relations;  his  immense  knowledge,  his  long  practical  experience, 
his  tact,  his  fertility  of  resource,  his  patience,  his  courage,  his 
unselfishness,  his  personal  attachment,  his  retentive  memory, 
even  his  reticence,  were  each  and  all  impossible  to  replace.  The 
material  from  which  Mr.  Madison  would  have  to  draw  was,  in 
comparison,  ridiculously  unequal  to  the  draft.  For  ten  years 
the  triumvirate  had  looked  about  them  to  find  allies  and  succes- 
sors ;  John  Randolph  had  failed  them  from  sheer  inability  to 


1811.  THE    TREASUEY.     1801-1813.  433 

follow  any  straight  course;  John  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky, 
had  died  at  the  outset  of  his  career ;  Monroe  had  not  developed 
great  powers,  and  had  repeatedly  disappointed  their  expecta- 
tions, yet  Monroe  was  still  the  best  they  had;  William  H. 
Crawford  was  a  crude  Georgian,  with  abilities  not  yet  tried  in 
administration ;  as  for  Giles,  General  Smith,  and  the  other  minor 
luminaries  of  the  old  party,  their  relations  with  Mr.  Madison 
were  hardly  better  than  Randolph's.  Whom,  then,  could  he  put 
in  the  Treasury  ?  What  dozen  men  in  the  party  could  pretend 
to  make  good  to  him  the  loss  of  his  old  companion?  How 
could  the  Administration  stand  without  him  ? 

All  this  was  urged  at  the  time,  and  was  obvious  enough  to  the 
great  body  of  Republicans  in  Congress;  and  yet,  granting  all 
this,  it  was  answered  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  better  retire.  Un- 
doubtedly the  business  of  the  Treasury  would  break  down ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  public  interests  would  for  a  time  be  ignorantly, 
wastefully,  and  perhaps  corruptly  managed;  undoubtedly  Mr. 
Madison  would  be  left  in  a  most  unpleasant  situation,  and  would 
find  his  personal  difficulties  vastly  increased ;  Congress  and  the 
press  would  precipitate  themselves  upon  him  instead  of  upon 
Mr.  Gallatin,  and  he  would  inevitably  be  swept  away  by  the 
torrent.  This,  however,  would  be  only  temporary;  the  evil 
would  cure  itself;  faction  would  produce  force  to  oppose  it,  and 
a  generation  of  younger  men  would  invent  its  own  processes  to 
solve  its  own  problems. 

Mr.  Gallatin  saw  the  situation  as  clearly  as  any  disinterested 
spectator  could  have  done,  and  fully  accepted  it.  At  the  close 
of  the  bank  struggle  he  recognized  that  he  was  defeated  and  that 
his  power  for  good  was  gone.  It  was  at  once  rumored  that  he 
would  resign.  Judge  Nicholson  wrote  on  the  6th  March,  two 
days  after  the  session  ended :  "  Randolph  is  here,  and  told  me 
that  a  friend  mentioned  to  him  that  you  would  probably  resign 
in  September,  as  it  would  take  you  till  that  time  to  arrange  the 
matters  in  the  Treasury.  He  did  not  say  in  express  terms,  but 
I  collected  that  he  alluded  to  Crawford,  and  I  fear  that  the  joint 
remonstrances  of  his  friends  here  have  not  had  their  due  weight 
with  Mr.  M." 

The  following  letter,  printed  from  a  first  draft  without  date, 

28 


434  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1811. 

was  probably  written  at  this  time,  and  delivered  on  the  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress,  March  4,  or  immediately  afterwards : 


GALLATIN   TO   MADISON. 

[March  4,  1811.  ?] 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  long  and  seriously  reflected  on  the  pres- 
ent state  of  things  and  on  my  personal  situation.  This  has  for 
some  time  been  sufficiently  unpleasant,  and  nothing  but  a  sense 
of  public  duty  and  attachment  to  yourself  could  have  induced 
me  to  retain  it  to  this  day.  But  I  am  convinced  that  in  neither 
respect  can  I  be  any  longer  useful  under  existing  circumstances. 
In  a  government  organized  like  that  of  the  United  States,  a 
government  not  too  strong  for  effecting  its  principal  object,  the 
protection  of  national  rights  against  foreign  aggressions,  and  par- 
ticularly under  circumstances  as  adverse  and  embarrassing  as 
those  under  which  the  United  States  are  now  placed,  it  appears 
to  me  that  not  only  capacity  and  talents  in  the  Administration, 
but  also  a  perfect,  heartfelt  cordiality  amongst  its  members,  are 
essentially  necessary  to  command  the  public  confidence  and  to 
produce  the  requisite  union  of  views  and  action  between  the 
several  branches  of  government.  In  at  least  one  of  those  points 
your  present  Administration  is  defective,  and  the  effects,  already 
sensibly  felt,  become  every  day  more  extensive  and  fatal.  New 
subdivisions  and  personal  factions  equally  hostile  to  yourself  and 
the  general  welfare  daily  acquire  additional  strength.  Measures 
of  vital  importance  have  been  and  are  defeated ;  every  operation, 
even  of  the  most  simple  and  ordinary  nature,  is  prevented  or  im- 
peded ;  the  embarrassments  of  government,  great  as  from  foreign 
causes  they  already  are,  are  unnecessarily  increased ;  public  con- 
fidence in  the  public  councils  and  in  the  Executive  is  impaired, 
and  every  day  seems  to  increase  every  one  of  those  evils.  Such 
state  of  things  cannot  last;  a  radical  and  speedy  remedy  has 
become  absolutely  necessary.  What  that  ought  to  be,  what 
change  would  best  promote  the  success  of  your  Administration 
and  the  welfare  of  the  United  States,  is  not  for  me  to  say.  I 
can  only  judge  for  myself,  and  I  clearly  perceive  that  my  con- 
tinuing a  member  of  the  present  Administration  is  no  longer  of 


1811.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  435 

any  public  utility,  invigorates  the  opposition  against  yourself,  and 
must  necessarily  be  attended  with  an  increased  loss  of  reputation 
by  myself.  Under  those  impressions,  not  without  reluctance  and 
after  having  perhaps  hesitated  too  long  in  hopes  of  a  favorable 
change,  I  beg  leave  to  tender  you  my  resignation,  to  take  place 
at  such  day  within  a  reasonable  time  as  you  will  think  most  con- 
sistent with  the  public  service.  I  hope  that  I  hardly  need  add 
any  expressions  of  my  respect  and  sincere  personal  attachment 
to  you,  of  the  regret  I  will  feel  on  leaving  you  at  this  critical 
time,  and  the  grateful  sense  I  ever  will  retain  of  your  kindness 
to  me. 

This  letter,  backed  by  the  remonstrances  of  Crawford  and 
others,  produced  a  Cabinet  crisis.  Mr.  Madison  declined  to  ac- 
cept it,  and  appears  either  to  have  returned  it  to  Mr.  Gallatin 
or  to  have  burned  it,  for  it  is  not  to  be  found  among  his  papers. 
He  then  took  a  step  necessary  in  any  event ;  he  dismissed  his 
Secretary  of  State,  and  authorized  Mr.  Gallatin  to  sound  James 
Monroe,  then  Governor  of  Virginia,  as  to  his  willingness  to 
enter  the  Cabinet.  Mr.  Gallatin  applied  to  Richard  Brent,  a 
Senator  from  Virginia,  who  appears  to  have  written  to  Mr. 
Monroe  somewhere  about  the  7th  March,  but  who  did  not  re- 
ceive a  reply  till  the  22d.*  A  portion  of  this  reply  is  worth 
quoting. 

"  You  intimate,"  said  Mr.  Monroe,  "  that  the  situation  of  the 
country  is  such  as  to  leave  me  no  alternative.  I  am  aware  that 
our  public  affairs  are  far  from  being  in  a  tranquil  and  secure 
state.  I  may  add  that  there  is  much  reason  to  fear  that  a  crisis 
is  approaching  of  a  very  dangerous  tendency ;  one  which  menaces 
the  overthrow  of  the  whole  Republican  party.  Is  the  Adminis- 
tration impressed  with  this  sentiment  and  prepared  to  act  on  it? 
Are  things  in  such  a  state  as  to  allow  the  Administration  to  take 
the  whole  subject  into  consideration  and  to  provide  for  the  safety 
of  the  country  and  of  free  government  by  such  measures  as  cir- 
cumstances may  require  and  a  comprehensive  view  of  them  sug- 
gest? Or  are  we  pledged  by  what  is  already  done  to  remain 

1  See  G-allatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  496. 


436  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1811. 

spectators  of  the  interior  movement  in  the  expectation  of  some 
change  abroad,  as  the  ground  on  which  we  are  to  act  ?  I  have 
no  doubt,  from  my  knowledge  of  the  President  and  Mr.  Gallatin, 
with  the  former  of  whom  I  have  been  long  and  intimately  con- 
nected in  friendship,  and  for  both  of  whom  in  great  and  leading 
points  of  character  I  have  the  highest  consideration  and  respect, 
that  if  I  came  into  the  government  the  utmost  cordiality  would 
subsist  between  us,  and  that  any  opinions  which  I  might  enter- 
tain and  express  respecting  our  public  affairs  would  receive,  so 
far  as  circumstances  would  permit,  all  the  attention  to  which 
they  might  be  entitled.  But  if  our  course  is  fixed  and  the  des- 
tiny of  our  country  dependent  on  arrangements  already  made, 
on  measures  already  taken,  I  do  not  perceive  how  it  would  be 
possible  for  me  to  render  any  service  at  this  time  in  the  general 
government." 

Mr.  Monroe  received  the  desired  assurances,  and  assumed  the 
new  office  on  the  1st  April,  1811.  Mr.  Robert  Smith  went  out, 
and  issued  a  manifesto  against  the  government,  in  which,  among 
numerous  ill-digested  and  incongruous  subjects  of  complaint, 
there  were  one  or  two  which  showed  how  serious  a  misfortune 
his  incompetence  had  been.  A  newspaper  war  ensued,  and 
curious  readers  may  find  in  the  National  Intelligencer  all  the 
literature  of  the  Smith  controversy  which  they  will  need  to 
satisfy  their  doubts.  Mr.  Smith  had  much  the  same  fate  as 
Colonel  Pickering  ten  years  before;  he  found  that  even  his 
friends  showed  a  certain  unwillingness  to  fight  his  battles.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  summer  it  had  become  evident  that  Mr. 
Smith  was  reduced  to  insignificance,  and  it  hardly  needed  the 
mild  severity  of  Mr.  Madison  or  the  newspaper  rhetoric  of  Joel 
Barlow  to  accomplish  this ;  Mr.  Smith's  own  clerk  was  equal  to 
the  task.1 

The  change  in  the  State  Department  was  a  great  relief  to  the 
President,  and  perhaps  he  may  have  asked  the  question  why  he 
had  ever  allowed  himself  to  be  dragooned  into  the  fatal  appoint- 

1  See,  for  another  account  of  the  struggle  between  Gallatin  and  the  Smiths, 
the  "  Kecollections  of  the  Civil  History  of  the  War  of  1812,  by  Joseph 
Gales;"  a  series  of  papers  printed  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  numbered 
from  I.  to  IX.,  and  published  between  June  9  and  September  12,  1857. 


1811. 


THE    TREASUEY.      1801-1813. 


437 


ment  of  Mr.  Smith ;  but  Monroe  came  too  late  to  save  Gallatin. 
To  him  the  change  brought  only  an  increase  of  annoyance. 
Although,  as  between  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Smith  in  the 
controversy  about  the  removal,  the  name  of  Gallatin  was  not 
mentioned,  the  public  well  knew  that  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Smith 
was  the  work  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  chorus 
of  newspapers,  led  by  the  Aurora,  joined  in  a  cry  of  savage 
hostility  against  him.  His  course  in  regard  to  the  bank  had 
necessarily  thrown  a  considerable  portion  of  the  press  and  the 
party  into  antagonism ;  Pennsylvania  had  long  since  abandoned 
him;  Virginia  now  threw  him  over.  The  confidence  of  Mr. 
Madison  and  his  own  supereminent  qualities  alone  sustained 
him.  All  this  was  notorious,  and  was  little  calculated  to  diminish 
the  zeal  of  personal  enmity.  Duane's  attacks  were  in  themselves 
not  formidable;  his  long  articles  of  financial  and  political  criti- 
cism were  impressive  only  to  the  very  ignorant ;  his  colossal  and 
audacious  untruthfulness  was  evident  to  any  intelligent  reader, 
and  had  been  evident  ever  since  the  Aurora  had  begun  its  exisir- 
ence ;  but  nevertheless  their  effect  was  serious  from  the  fact  that 
they  operated  in  a  way  perhaps  not  intended  or  fully  under- 
stood by  Duane  himself.  In  discussing  the  next  Presidential 
election,  for  example,  the  Aurora  said:1  "We  are  at  present 
led  into  these  considerations  in  consequence  of  the  assertions  of 
certain  adherents  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  namely,  '  that  this  gentleman 
-possesses  more  talents  than  all  the  other  officers  in  the  Adminis- 
tration put  together,  including  Mr.  Madison  himself;  that  Mr. 
Madison  could  not  stand,  nor  the  executive  functions  of  the 
government  be  performed,  without  him.'  This  is  verbatim  the 
language  that  is  held  forth  at  present.  Now,  what  do  these  as- 
sertions amount  to  ?  Why,  clearly,  that  Mr.  Gallatin  is,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  the  President,  and  even  more  than  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States."  "  This  comes  from  the  particular 
friends  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, — can  it  be  true  ?  It  is 
a  fact  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  nominally  electing 
Mr.  Madison  President,  have  in  reality  placed  Mr.  Gallatin  in 
that  high  station.  ...  It  is  said  Mr.  Gallatin  aspires  to  the 

1  8th  April,  1811. 


438  LIFE     OF    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1811. 

Presidency  himself,  but  that  we  do  not  believe;  no  man  knows 
better  the  impracticability  of  such  a  desire  than  himself;  but  if 
those  assertions  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  friends  are  true,  it  cannot  be 
so  much  an  object  to  him,  since  the  salary  is  very  little  compared 
with  the  profits  to  be  made  by  the  Treasury."  Then  comes  the 
inevitable  "  extract  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  of  high  stand- 
ing" in  New  York  to  Dr.  Leib :  "  The  events  at  Washington 
have  not  at  all  surprised  me ;  nay,  they  were  such  as  I  had  been 
looking  for  for  some  time,  knowing  the  ascendency  which  Galla- 
tin  had  acquired  over  the  mind  of  Mr.  Madison,  and  knowing 
too  the  secret  and  invisible  agency  which  was  operating  to  pro- 
duce it  and  to  keep  this  crafty  Genevan  in  place."  Under  the 
form  of  an  allegory  the  same  idea  is  intensified  r1  "  He  was  a 
man  of  singular  sagacity  and  penetration ;  he  could  read  the 
very  thoughts  of  men  in  their  faces  and  develop  their  designs ; 
a  man  of  few  words;  made  no  promises  but  to  real  favorites 
that  would  help  him  out  at  a  dead  lift,  and  ever  sought  to 
enhance  his  own  interest,  power,  and  aggrandizement  by  the 
most  insatiate  avarice  on  the  very  vitals  of  the  unsuspecting 
nation." 

The  charges  of  embezzlement  and  wholesale  speculation  in 
public  lands,  of  immense  wealth  and  limitless  corruption,  were 
probably  harmless;  they  affected  only  the  groundlings;  but  th.e 
insidious  elevation  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  displaying  him  as  an  irre- 
sistible magician  whose  touch  was  superhuman ;  the  ascribing  to 
him  every  power  and  every  act  that  emanated  from  government, 
and  the  concentration  upon  him  of  the  whole  blaze  of  attack, 
destroyed  his  usefulness  by  indirection.  No  man  can  afford  to 
stand  in  this  attitude;  it  creates  jealousies,  estranges  precisely  the 
men  of  force  and  character  who  value  their  own  independence, 
exposes  to  the  attacks  and  obstructions  of  those  who  wish  to  be 
known  by  the  greatness  of  their  enmities,  and  in  a  manner  stifles 
direct  and  warm  co-operation.  In  such  cases  every  newspaper, 
every  Congressman,  and  every  small  politician  thinks  it  necessary 
to  protest  that  he  is  not  under  the  alleged  influence ;  that  he  is 
not  afraid  to  oppose  it ;  and  that  he  holds  a  position  of  judicial 

1  3d  September,  1811. 


1811.  THE     TREASUKY.     1801-1813.  439 

neutrality.  The  Virginians  thought  it  a  matter  of  regret  that 
Mr.  Gallatin  had  not  retired  with  Mr.  Smith.  Gallatin  was  for- 
tunate if  the  men  who  disavowed  him  in  public  did  not  offer 
him  an  additional  insult  by  assuring  him  in  secret  of  their 
friendship. 

"  These  repeated  attacks  are  enough  to  beat  down  even  you," 
wrote  Judge  Nicholson.  And  Mr.  Dallas,  in  a  letter  dated  21st 
April,  1811,  added :  "  If  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  powerful  friends 
at  Washington,  in  the  year  1805,  had  not  given  their  countenance 
to  the  proscriptions  of  the  Aurora,  the  evils  of  the  present  time 
would  not  have  happened.  I  do  not  say  this  by  way  of  reproach, 
but  to  point  out  the  true  cause  why  no  man  of  real  character  and 
capacity  in  the  Republican  party  of  Pennsylvania  has  the  power 
to  render  any  political  service  to  the  Administration.  It  rests 
with  Duane  and  Binns  to  knock  down  and  set  up  whom  they 
delight  to  destroy  or  to  honor.  In  the  present  conflict,  so  far  as 
you  are  personally  concerned,  I  see  with  pride  and  pleasure  that 
the  influence  of  Duane  is  at  an  end." 

Even  Mr.  Jefferson  was  now  obliged  to  choose  sides.  It  is, 
perhaps,  useless  to  expect  that  a  public  or  private  man  will 
deal  harshly  with  followers  and  flatterers;  Duane  had  served 
Jefferson  well,  and  Jefferson  clung  to  him  as  to  a  wayward 
child;  but  now  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  at  last  forced  the  issue, 
Mr.  Jefferson  came  to  the  President's  support,  and,  stimulated 
by  the  blunt  response  of  Wirt  and  the  Richmond  Republi- 
cans that  Duane  might  go  to  the  Smiths  for  money  but  would 
not  get  it  from  them,  he  wrote  Duane  a  letter  to  say,  with  a 
degree  of  tenderness  that  seems  to  the  cold  critic  not  a  little 
amusing,  that  the  Aurora  had  gone  too  far  and  was  to  be  read 
out  of  the  party.  This  was  well  enough ;  but  the  curb,  as  Mr. 
Dallas  very  properly  said,  should  have  been  applied  five  years 
before;  the  harm  was  done,  and  it  made  very  little  differ- 
ence whether  the  Aurora  were  in  opposition  or  not;  perhaps, 
indeed,  it  was  already  more  dangerous  in  friendship  than  in 
enmity. 

Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  far  from  exulting  over  the  fall  of 
Robert  Smith.  There  was  something  humiliating  in  the  mere 
thought  that  he  should  have  been  pitted  against  so  unsub- 


440  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1811. 

stantial  an  opponent :  there  was  a  loss  of  power,  an  exhaustion 
of  reserved  force  in  the  very  effort  he  had  been  obliged  to  make. 
His  success,  if  it  were  success,  deprived  him  of  freedom  of  action, 
tied  him  beyond  redemption  to  the  chariot  of  government,  and 
took  away  his  last  means  of  escape  from  the  humiliations  his 
enemies  might  inflict.  As  he  wrote  to  Judge  Nicholson  on  the 
30th  May,  a  few  weeks  after  the  Cabinet  crisis:  "Notwith- 
standing the  change,  I  feel  no  satisfaction  in  my  present  situation, 
and  the  less  so  because  that  circumstance  has  made  me  a  slave. 
Perhaps  for  that  reason  I  feel  an  ineffable  thirst  for  retirement 
and  obscurity."  Further  Cabinet  changes  were  imminent.  Dr. 
Eustis,  who  had  succeeded  General  Dearborn  as  Secretary  of 
War,  was  unequal  to  the  growing  responsibilities  of  the  office. 
Among  prominent  Republicans  the  only  conspicuous  candidate 
for  the  place  was  General  Armstrong,  just  returned  from  France, 
one  of  the  Clinton  family,  whom  Mr.  Gallatin  always  disliked, 
and  who  cordially  returned  the  sentiment.  There  could  be  no 
real  harmony  between  Mr.  Gallatin  and  General  Armstrong. 
Meanwhile,  Justice  Chase  of  the  Supreme  Courl  was  dead,  and 
the  Attorney-General,  Rodney,  wished  to  be  appointed  to  the 
bench.  Mr.  Madison  passed  him  over  to  appoint  Gabriel  Duval, 
of  Maryland ;  he  resigned,  and  William  Pinkney,  recently  min- 
ister to  England,  took  the  post  of  Attorney-General.  The  fol- 
lowing letters  of  Mr.  Dallas  show  the  discontent  aroused  by 
these  changes : 

A.  J.  DALLAS  TO   GALLATIN. 

24th  June,  1811. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  do  not  know  the  arrangements  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Judge  Chase.  I  do  not  wish 
to  suggest  any  name  from  personal  feelings.  But  perhaps  it 
may  be  useful  that  you  should  know  that  Mr.  Ingersoll  would 
accept  the  appointment,  as  far  as  I  can  infer  from  his  con- 
versations during  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  Judge  Cushing's 
death. 

Do  you  not  think  Pennsylvania  entitled  to  some  notice? 
Everybody  else  seems  to  think  so. 


1811.  THE    TKEASURY.     1801-1813.  441 

A.  J.  DALLAS  TO  GALLATIN. 

Private  and  confidential :  if  such  a  thing  can  be. 

24th  July,  1811. 

DEAR  SIK, — I  wrote  to  you  respecting  the  vacancy  on  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court.  I  have,  perhaps,  no  right  to 
expect  an  answer  in  these  times.  But  reports  are  so  strange 
upon  the  succession  to  Judge  Chase  that  I  beg  you  explicitly  to 
understand  the  sense  of  the  Pennsylvania  profession,  Federal, 
Republican,  Quid,  and  Quadroon.  We  do  not  think  that  the 
successor  named  in  the  public  prints  is  qualified  in  any  respect 
for  the  station.  I  care  not  who  is  appointed,  provided  he  is  fit 
in  talents,  in  experience,  and  in  manners;  but,  for  Heaven's 
sake,  do  not  make  a  man  a  judge  merely  to  get  rid  of  him  as  a 
statesman. 

Poor  Pennsylvania !  Except  yourself,  who  has  been  distin- 
guished by  Federal  favor  ?  Local  offices  must  have  local  occu- 
pants ;  but  from  the  commencement  of  the  Federal  government, 
and  particularly  from  the  commencement  of  the  Republican 
Administration,  what  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  has  been  invited  by 
the  Executive  to  share  in  Federal  honors  ?  There  are  the  excep- 
tions of  Judge  Wilson  and  Mr.  Bradford,  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent Washington ;  but  they  are  merely  exceptions  to  my  remark. 

Look  at  the  judiciary  establishment !  There  are  seven  judges. 
Four  reside  on  the  south  of  the  Potomac.  Two  reside  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  Attorney-General  resides  in  Delaware.  For  the 
whole  region  beyond  the  Potomac,  north-east,  there  are  two 
judges.  The  report  states  that  another  judge  is  to  be  taken 
from  Delaware,  and  an  Attorney-General  from  Maryland ! 

I  am  cordially  attached  to  the  whole  Administration.  Of  you 
personally  I  only  think  and  speak  as  of  a  brother.  But  really, 
knowing  that  no  confidence  has  ever  been  placed  in  me  upon 
political  subjects,  and  not  knowing  where  your  confidence  is  now 
placed,  I  do  not  understand  your  measures,  nor  am  I  acquainted 
with  your  friends.  It  is  not  the  puff  of  a  toast  nor  the  flattery 
of  a  newspaper  squib  that  can  maintain  the  Republican  cause  or 
vindicate  the  Administration  from  reproach.  A  free  press  is  an 


442  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1811. 

excellent  thing,  but  a  newspaper  government  is  the  most  execrable 
of  all  things.  The  use  of  the  press  is  to  give  information ;  its 
abuse  is  to  impose  the  law  upon  private  feeling  and  public  senti- 
ment. Do,  therefore,  think  less  of  the  denunciations  of  Duane 
and  of  the  blandishments  of  Binns,  and  let  your  friends  know 
that  you  act  right,  in  order  that  they  may  think  so.1 

This  letter  I  have  a  strong  inclination  to  address  to  Mrs. 
Gallatin ;  for  as  men  have  ceased  to  keep  secrets,  I  hope  it  will 
cease  to  be  a  wonder  that  a  lady  should  keep  them.  But  I  will 
content  myself  with  requesting  you  to  tell  her  that  if  there  is  a 


1  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  in  the  year  1820,  commented  upon  Pennsylvania 
politics  in  his  Diary  (vol.  v.  p.  112):  " -Pennsylvania  has  been  for  about 
twenty  years  governed  by  two  newspapers  in  succession  ;  one,  the  Aurora, 
edited  by  Duane,  an  Irishman,  and  the  other,  the  Democratic  Press,  edited 
by  John  Binns,  an  Englishman.  Duane  had  been  expelled  from  British 
India  for  sedition,  and  Binns  had  been  tried  in  England  for  high  treason. 
They  are  both  men  of  considerable  talents  and  profligate  principles,  always 
for  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  always  insupportable  burdens,  by  their 
insatiable  rapacity,  to  the  parties  they  support.  With  the  triumph  of  Jef- 
ferson in  1801,  Duane,  who  had  contributed  to  it,  came  in  for  his  share,  and 
more  than  his  share,  of  emolument  and  patronage.  With  his  printing 
establishment  at  Philadelphia  he  connected  one  in  this  city ;  obtained  by 
extortion  almost  the  whole  of  the  public  printing,  but,  being  prodigal  and 
reckless,  never  could  emerge  from  poverty,  and,  always  wanting  more,  soon 
encroached  upon  the  powers  of  indulgence  to  his  cravings  which  the  heads 
of  Departments  possessed,  and  quarrelled  both  with  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr. 
Gallatin  for  stajnng  his  hand  from  public  plunder.  In  Pennsylvania,  too, 
he  contributed  to  bring  in  McKean,  and  then  labored  for  years  to  run 
him  down  ;  contributed  to  bring  in  Snyder,  and  soon  turned  against  him. 
Binns  in  the  mean  time  had  come,  after  his  trial,  as  a  fugitive  from  Eng- 
land, and  had  commenced  editor  of  a  newspaper.  Duane  had  been  made 
by  Mr.  Madison  a  colonel  in  the  army ;  and  as  Gibbon  the  captain  of 
Hampshire  militia  says  he  was  useful  to  Gibbon  the  historian  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  so  Duane  the  colonel  was  a  useful  auxiliary  to  Duane  the 
printer,  for  fleecing  the  public  by  palming  upon  the  army  at  extravagant 
prices  a  worthless  compilation  upon  military  discipline  that  he  had  pub- 
lished. But,  before  the  war  with  England  was  half  over,  Duane  had  so 
disgusted  the  army  and  disgraced  himself  that  he  was  obliged  to  resign 
his  commission,  and  has  been  these  seven  years  a  public  defaulter  in  his 
accounts  to  the  amount  of  between  four  and  five  thousand  dollars,  for 
which  he  is  now  under  prosecution.  Snyder,  assailed  by  Duane,  was  de- 
fended by  Binns,  who  turned  the  battery  against  him,  and  finally  ran  down 
the  Aurora  so  that  it  lost  all  influence  upon  public  affairs." 


1811.  THE    TEEASURY.     1801-1813.  443 

special  session  of  Congress,  Mrs.  Dallas  and  M.  .  .  .  will  visit 
Washington. 

Had  Mr.  Gallatin  controlled  the  action  of  the  Executive,  he 
would  long  since  have  thrown  Duane  into  %open  opposition, 
where  he  would  have  been  harmless.  Duane  was  simply  a 
blackguard,  of  a  type  better  understood  now  than  then.  That 
he  had  good  qualities  is  evident  from  the  descendants  he  left 
behind  him,  but  these  qualities  had  not  been  trained  to  ex- 
cellence. The  only  way  to  deal  with  him  was  the  direct  way, 
and  the  only  argument  he  would  listen  to  was  the  coarse  argu- 
ment of  the  truth.  From  the  first,  however,  both  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  Mr.  Madison  sacrificed  their  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
this  profligate  adventurer,  whom  they  conciliated,  flattered,  per- 
suaded, argued  with,  and  supported  by  public  and  private  aid. 
On  this  subject  Mr.  Gallatin  never  opened  his  lips ;  the  letter 
of  Mr.  Dallas,  quoted  above,  shows  that  even  to  him,  his  oldest 
and  most  intimate  political  friend,  he  never  mentioned  it.  He 
even  submitted  to  bear,  without  reply,  the  sharp  criticisms  of 
Mr.  Dallas  on  his  own  silence,  and  reflections  manifestly  unjust. 
That  the  manner  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  towards 
Duane  cut  deeply  into  the  susceptibilities  of  Mr.  Gallatin  is 
certain;  but,  with  the  exception  of  one  single  expression,  he 
never  by  word  or  sign  intimated  his  sense  of  the  indignity  he 
felt  himself  to  be  receiving  at  their  hands.  His  loyalty  to  his 
chiefs  was  too  entire  to  be  shaken  for  so  mean  a  cause. 

With  this  wound  incessantly  smarting  at  his  heart;  with  all  his 
great  schemes  and  brilliant  hopes  of  administrative  success  shat- 
tered into  fragments;  with  a  majority  of  bitter  personal  enemies  in 
the  Senate  eager  to  obstruct  every  inch  of  his  path ;  with  a  great 
part  of  his  administrative  machinery  snatched  out  of  his  hands, 
and  utter  financial  confusion  around  him ;  with  a  war  against 
the  richest  and  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world  staring  him 
in  the  face,  and  almost  certain  domestic  treason  behind ;  with  his 
own  expedients  invariably  defeated,  and  with  the  most  contempt- 
ible and  shifting  experiments  in  politics  forced  into  his  hands, 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  now  called  upon  to  take  up  his  burden  again 
and  march.  He  could  not  escape.  Mr.  Madison's  friendship. 


444  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1811. 

when  forced  to  the  final  test,  proved  true,  and  Gallatin  was 
fettered  by  his  own  act. 

Of  his  whole  public  life,  the  next  year,  which  should  be  the 
most  important,  is  the  most  obscure.  He  wrote  none  but  public 
letters.  He  never  recurred  to  the  time  with  pleasure,  and  he 
left  no  notes  or  memoranda  to  explain  his  course.  Much, 
therefore,  must  be  left  to  inference,  something  may  be  drawn 
from  scattered  hints,  and  most  must  depend  on  the  well-known 
traits  of  his  character  and  his  habits  of  thought. 

The  last  Congress  had,  before  adjournment,  sanctioned  the 
President's  course  in  reviving  the  non-intercourse  with  England 
on  the  strength  of  the  supposed  revocation  of  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  decrees  by  Napoleon.  The  Administration  party,  in 
doing  this,  took  the  ground  that  the  act  was  the  necessary  result 
of  a  contract  with  France  already  carried  into  effect  by  her. 
Thus  the  United  States  took  one  more  step  towards  war  with 
England  by  precluding  herself  from  acting  in  any  other  direc- 
tion than  as  the  Emperor  wished ;  even  the  most  flagrant  decep- 
tion on  his  part  could  not  shake  the  compact  so  far  as  America 
was  concerned.  For  the  wholesale  robbery  committed  on  Amer- 
ican property  in  Europe  by  the  Emperor's  order,  the  United 
States  mildly  asked  compensation.  At  about  the  same  time 
Russia,  then  on  the  friendliest  terms  with  France,  directed  her 
minister  at  Paris  to  intercede  in  favor  of  a  similar  claim  on  the 
part  of  Denmark.  To  Count  Romanzoff's  representation  Bona- 
parte only  replied :  "  Give  them  a  very  civil  answer :  that  I  will 
examine  the  claim,  et  cetera ;  mais  on  ne  paye  jamais  ces  choses- 
l£,  n'est-ce  pas  ?" l  The  American  claim  had  small  chance  of 
success,  but  perhaps  all  that,  under  the  circumstances,  it  deserved. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  the  events  of  the  summer  tended  to  war 
with  England.  Mr.  Foster,  the  new  British  minister,  instead 
of  lessening  the  conditions  of  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council, 
increased  them.  The  British  Court  of  Admiralty  resumed  its 
sweeping  condemnations.  The  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  was  at 
last  settled  by  Mr.  Foster,  but  the  British  sloop-of-war  Little 
Belt  was  fired  upon  and  nearly  sunk  by  the  United  States  frigate 

1  Gallatin 's  Writings,  ii.  490. 


1811.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  445 

President ;  and,  what  was  of  far  more  consequence  than  all  this, 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  more  especially  in  the  south  and 
west,  and  the  younger  generation,  which  cared  little  for  old  Jef- 
fersonian  principles,  were  at  last  in  advance  of  their  government 
and  ready  for  war.  Henry  Clay,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Langdon 
Cheves,  William  Lowndes,  Felix  Grundy,  the  leaders  of  the  new 
sect,  were  none  of  them  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  age  at 
this  time,  or  about  the  age  at  which  Mr.  Gallatin  had  entered 
Congress  more  than  fifteen  years  before. 

The  President  and  his  Cabinet  did  not  want  war,  but,  if  the 
people  demanded  it,  they  were  not  disposed  to  resist.  Mr. 
Madison  would  not  allow  his  Administration  to  fall  behind  the 
public  feeling  in  its  assertion  and  maintenance  of  national  dig- 
nity; nevertheless,  Mr.  Madison  seems  at  this  moment  to  have 
had  only  a  very  vague  conception  of  what  he  himself  did  want. 
Although  he  had  a  superfluity  of  only  too  good  causes  for  war 
with  Great  Britain,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  hoodwinked  by 
France  into  an  untenable  statement  of  his  case  against  the  Brit- 
ish government.  He  then  called  Congress  together  on  the  4th 
November,  which  was  hardly  a  peace  measure.  Possibly  he 
underestimated  the  temper  of  that  body,  for  his  message,  sent 
in  on  the  5th  November,  1811,  though  high  in  tone,  did  not 
recommend  war;  it  recommended  that  "a  system  of  more  ample 
provisions  for  maintaining"  national  rights  should  be  provided ; 
it  recommended  Congress  to  put  the  country  "  into  an  armor 
and  an  attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis,"  namely,  the  filling 
up  the  regular  army,  providing  an  auxiliary  force,  volunteer 
corps  and  militia  detachments,  and  organizing  the  militia ;  but 
government  had  urged  nearly  all  this  for  years  past.  Yet  on 
the  15th  November,  only  ten  days  later,  Mr.  Madison  fully 
understood  the  situation,  for  he  wrote  to  Europe  that,  as  be- 
tween submission  and  hostilities,  Congress  favored  the  latter, 
though  it  would  probably  defer  action  till  the  spring. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  report,  which  was  sent  in  on  the  25th  No- 
vember, was  equally  cautious.  For  the  past  year  the  Treasury 
showed  a  surplus  of  over  $5,000,000,  owing  to  the  large  impor- 
tations under  the  system  of  open  trade  previous  to  February, 
1810;  but  for  the  next  year  the  estimated  expense  of  increased 


446  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIK  1811. 

armaments  and  the  diminished  receipts  under  the  non-intercourse 
with  England  would  cause  a  deficit  of  over  one  million  dollars 
and  necessitate  a  loan. 

The  public  debt  of  the  United  States  extinguished  between 
the  1st  April,  1801,  and  the  31st  December,  1811,  amounted  to 
the  sum  of  $46,022,810,  and  there  remained  on  the  1st  January, 
1812,  $45,154,189  of  funded  debt,  bearing  an  annual  interest  of 
$2,222,481.  This  represents  all  that  was  directly  accomplished 
by  Mr.  Gallatin  towards  his  great  object  of  the  extinction  of  debt. 
This  result  had  been  accompanied  by  the  abandonment  of  the 
internal  taxes  and  the  salt  tax,  but  also  by  the  imposition  of  the 
2J  per  cent,  ad  valorem  duties  known  as  the  Mediterranean 
Fund.  "  It  therefore  proves  decisively,"  said  the  report,  "  the 
ability  of  the  United  States  with  their  ordinary  revenue  to  dis- 
charge in  ten  years  of  peace  a  debt  of  forty-two  millions  of  dol- 
lars ;  a  fact  which  considerably  lessens  the  weight  of  the  most 
formidable  objection  to  which  that  revenue,  depending  almost 
solely  on  commerce,  appears  to  be  liable.  In  time  of  peace  it  is 
almost  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  war ;  in  time  of  war 
it  is  hardly  competent  to  support  the  expenses  of  a  peace  estab- 
lishment. Sinking  at  once  under  adverse  circumstances  from 
fifteen  to  six  or  eight  millions  of  dollars,  it  is  only  by  a  perse- 
vering application  of  the  surplus  which  it  aifords  in  years  of 
prosperity  to  the  discharge  of  the  debt,  that  a  total  change  in  the 
system  of  taxation,  or  a  perpetual  accumulation  of  debt,  can  be 
avoided." 

The  report  went  on  to  discuss  the  provision  to  be  made  for 
ensuing  years.  The  present  revenue,  under  existing  circumstances, 
was  estimated  at  $6,600,000 ;  the  expenditure  at  $9,200,000. 
To  provide  for  the  deficiency  an  addition  of  fifty  per  cent,  to  the 
existing  duties  on  imports  would  be  required,  and  was  preferable 
to  any  internal  tax.  "  The  same  amount  of  revenue  would  be 
necessary,  and,  with  the  aid  of  loans,  would,  it  is  believed, 
be  sufficient  in  case  of  war."  By  inadvertence,  Mr.  Gallatin 
made  here  an  important  omission.  He  was  speaking  only  of 
"  fixed  revenue,"  sufficient  to  defray  the  ordinary  expenses  of 
government;  and,  as  he  was  afterwards  obliged  to  explain, 
this  expression  was  wrongly  applied  to  the  case  of  war.  He 


1811. 


THE    TBEASURY.     1801-1813. 


447 


omitted  to  add  that  with  each  loan,  provision  to  meet  its  interest 
must  be  made  by  increasing  taxation ;  this  fact  had  already  been 
pointed  out  in  the  financial  paragraph  of  the  President's  message, 
quoted  in  a  previous  part  of  the  report,  but  the  oversight  gave 
rise  to  subsequent  sharp  attacks  upon  the  Secretary. 

He  then  came  to  the  question  of  loans,  and  expressed  the 
opinion  that  in  case  of  war  "  the  United  States  must  rely  solely 
on  their  own  resources.  These  have  their  natural  bounds,  but 
are  believed  to  be  fully  adequate  to  the  support  of  all  the  national 
force  that  can  be  usefully  and  efficiently  employed ;"  but  it  was 
to  be  understood  that  if  the  United  States  wished  to  borrow 
money  it  must  pay  for  it :  '•  It  may  be  expected  that  legal  in- 
terest will  not  be  sufficient  to  obtain  the  sums  required.  In  that 
case  the  most  simple  and  direct  is  also  the  cheapest  and  safest 
mode.  It  appears  much  more  eligible  to  pay  at  once  the  differ- 
ence, either  by  a  premium  in  lands  or  by  allowing  a  higher  rate 
of  interest,  than  to  increase  the  amount  of  stock  created,  or  to 
attempt  any  operation  which  might  injuriously  affect  the  circu- 
lating medium  of  the  country ;"  and  he  proceeded  to  show  that 
"  even"  if  forty  millions  were  borrowed,  the  difference  between 
paying  eight  and  six  per  cent,  would  be  only  $800,000  a  year 
until  the  principal  was  reimbursed. 

These  were  the  chief  points  of  the  report,  and  taken  with  the 
tone  of  the  message  they  indicate  clearly  enough  that  the  Ad- 
ministration, now  as  heretofore,  whatever  the  private  feelings  of 
its  members  might  be,  was  prepared  to  accept  any  distinct  policy 
which  Congress  might  lay  down-.  One  of  the  main  grounds  of. 
attack  upon  Mr.  Gallatin  was  that  he  had  habitually  alarmed 
the  public  with  the  poverty  of  the  Treasury,  and  by  doing  so 
had  checked  energetic  measures  of  defence.  The  charge  was  so 
far  true  that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  never  concealed  or  attempted  to 
color  the  accounts  of  the  Treasury.  On  this  occasion  he  prob- 
ably aimed,  as  was  always  his  habit,  at  furnishing  Congress  with 
as  favorable  an  estimate  as  the  truth  would  permit,  with  a  view 
to  obtaining  united  and  cordial  co-operation  between  the  Execu- 
tive and  Congress.  His  only  mistake  was  in  accepting  the  esti- 
mates of  war  expenditure  then  current.  He  himself  could  not 
wish  for  war,  and  still  hoped  to  avoid  it ;  he  knew  that  the  Treas- 


448  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1811. 

ury,  in  its  present  situation,  could  not  stand  the  burden,  but  he 
had  suffered  too  much  from  the  charge  of  attempting  to  direct 
legislation,  to  allow  of  his  again  exposing  himself  to  it  without 
necessity. 

The  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were  there- 
fore in  perfect  accord ;  they  did  not  recommend  war,  but  they 
recommended  immediate  and  energetic  preparation.  The  Presi- 
dent advised  Congress  to  provide  troops ;  the  Secretary  recom- 
mended increased  taxes  and  a  loan  of  $1,200,000,  to  pay  these 
troops  and  support  them.  This  was  the  extent  of  their  recom- 
mendations, and  it  remained  for  Congress  to  act. 

Congress  did  indeed  act;  within  a  very  short  time  it  was 
clear  that  Mr.  Madison  had  no  control  over  its  proceedings. 
To  Mr.  Gallatin  the  action  of  Congress  was  merely  a  sign 
that,  as  his  influence  in  the  Senate  had  long  since  vanished,  his 
influence  in  the  House  had  now  followed  it,  and  that  for  the 
future  he  could  expect  no  friendly  co-operation  from  the  Legis- 
lature. At  first,  indeed,  the  proceedings  of  both  bodies  were  in 
outward  accord  with  the  Executive  recommendations ;  the  reports 
of  committees,  and  the  House  bill  introduced  in  pursuance  of 
them,  were  such  as  Mr.  Madison  had  suggested ;  the  only  war- 
like measure  proposed  was  that  of  permitting  merchant  vessels 
to  arm.  The  Senate,  however,  very  soon  returned  to  its  old 
tactics.  Mr.  Madison,  as  was  well  understood,  asked  only  for 
an  army  of  ten  thousand  men,  and  his  recommendations  were 
referred  to  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Giles  was  the  chairman, 
who  immediately  reported  a  bill  for  raising  twenty-five  thousand 
men,  and  in  a  speech  on  the  17th  December  fairly  took  the 
ground  that  his  principal  motive  was  to  annoy  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  Mr.  Giles  declared  himself  a  friend  of  peace ; 
no  man  more  deprecated  war ;  but  "  if  war  should  now  come,  it 
would  be  in  consequence  of  the  fatal  rejection  of  the  proposed 
measures  of  preparation  for  war."  The  only  reason  for  reject- 
ing them  he  averred  to  be  "  the  decrepit  state  of  the  Treasury 
and  the  financial  fame  of  the  gentleman  at  the  head  of  that 
Department."  He  launched  into  a  bitter  attack  upon  Mr. 
Gallatin,  thoroughly  in  the  spirit  of  Duane  and  the  Aurora. 
Considering  that  he  was  playing  with  such  tremendous  interests, 


1811.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  449 

and  that  the  national  existence,  to  say  nothing  of  private  life 
and  fortune,  was  dancing  on  the  edge  of  this  precipice  of  war 
at  the  mercy  of  Mr.  Giles's  personal  malignity  towards  Mr. 
Gallatin,  Mr.  Madison,  and  Mr.  Monroe,  there  is  actually  some- 
thing dramatic  and  almost  classic  in  the  taunts  he  now  flung 
out.  "Until  now  the  honorable  Secretary  has  had  no  scope 
for  the  demonstration  of  his  splendid  financial  talents."  "  If, 
then,  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  his  splendid  financial  talents, 
only  give  them  scope  for  action;  apply  them  to  the  national 
ability  and  will."  "  All  the  measures  which  have  dishonored 
the  nation  during  the  last  three  years  are  in  a  great  degree 
attributable  to  the  indisposition  of  the  late  and  present  Admin- 
istration to  press  on  the  Treasury  Department  and  to  disturb 
the  popularity  and  repose  of  the  gentleman  at  the  head  of 
it."  In  order  to  give  sufficient  occupation  to  the  splendid  finan- 
cial talents  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Giles  had  done 
all  that  was  in  his  power  to  do;  he  had  thwarted  every  plan  of 
policy ;  wasted  every  dollar  of  money ;  struck  from  the  hands 
of  government  every  resource  and  every  financial  instrument  he 
could  lay  hold  on ;  and  all  this  was  not  enough.  The  Secretary 
still  had  reputation ;  he  had  popularity ;  he  had,  if  not  repose, 
at  least  dignity.  The  Senator  from  Virginia  was  equal  to  the 
occasion ;  there  are  few  oratorical  taunts  on  record  which  echo 
more  harshly  than  this,  that  as  yet  "  the  Secretary  has  had  no 
scope  for  the  demonstration  of  his  splendid  financial  talents ;" 
war  alone  could  do  those  talents  justice,  and  war  the  Secretary 
should  have. 

Mr.  Giles  carried  his  bill  through  the  Senate;  Clay  and 
Lowndes  carried  it  through  the  House.  The  war  spirit  mean- 
while was  rapidly  rising ;  resolutions  poured  in  from  the  State 
Legislatures;  Congress  hurried  into  further  measures.  What 
Mr.  Madison  thought  of  these  is  shown  in  a  letter  of  his  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  dated  February  7, 1812  :  "  The  newspapers  give  you  a 
sufficient  insight  into  the  measures  of  Congress.  With  a  view  to 
enable  the  Executive  to  step  at  once  into  Canada,  they  have  pro- 
vided, after  two  months'  delay,  for  a  regular  force,  requiring 
twelve  to  raise  it,  on  terms  not  likely  to  raise  it  at  all  for  that 
object.  The  mixture  of  good  and  bad,  avowed  and  disguised 

29 


450  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1811. 

motives  accounting  for  these  things,  is  curious  enough,  but  not 
to  be  explained  in  the  compass  of  a  letter." 

Although  Mr.  Gallatin  had  lost  his  old  control  in  the  House, 
he  still  preserved  his  influence  with  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  and  its  chairman,  Ezekiel  Bacon,  of  Massachusetts.  To 
this  committee  the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  referred,  and  when  it  became  clear  that  war  was  really  immi- 
nent, the  committee,  early  in  December,  requested  Mr.  Gallatin 
to  appear  before  them  to  discuss  the  question  of  war  taxes. 
Mr.  Gallatin  at  once  complied,  and  gave  his  opinions  explicitly 
and  emphatically :  "  I  do  not,"  said  he,  "  feel  myself  particularly 
responsible  for  the  nation  being  in  the  position  in  which  it  now 
finds  itself;  it  might  perhaps  have  been  avoided  by  a  somewhat 
different  course  of  measures,  or  the  ultimate  issue  longer  deferred. 
But,  placed  as  it  is,  I  see  not  how  we  can  now  recede  from  our 
position  with  honor  or  safety.  We  must  now  go  on  and  main- 
tain that  position  with  all  the  available  means  we  can  bring  to 
bear  on  the  enemy  whom  we  have  selected,  and  we  should  in  my 
judgment  resort  immediately  to  a  system  of  taxation  commensu- 
rate with  the  objects  stated  in  my  annual  report  and  by  the 
President  in  his  message  at  the  opening  of  the  session." 1  Very 
soon  afterwards,  on  December  9,  the  committee,  through  its 
chairman,  wrote  Mr.  Gallatin  a  letter  asking  for  a  written  state- 
ment of  his  views,  and  a  month  later  Mr.  Gallatin  sent  in  a 
paper,  which  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  war  budget. 

This  was  .a  remarkable — for  Mr.  Gallatin's  calm  temper, 
almost  a  defiant — document,  written,  said  Mr.  Bacon,  "  to  the 
great  disobligement,  as  we  had  reason  to  know,  of  some  of  his 
strong  political  friends  at  that  time,"  and  intended  to  force 
Congress  into  an  honest  performance  of  its  financial  duties. 
This  intent  was  marked  by  a  defence  of  his  own  course  which 
could  not  but  read  as  a  severe  criticism  of  the  course  pursued 
by  Congress. 

"  It  was  stated,"  said  Mr.  Gallatin,  "  in  the  annual  report  of 
December  10,  1808,  that  'no  internal  taxes,  either  direct  or  in- 


1  Letter  of  Ezekiel  Baccn,  dated  24th  October,  1845,  published  in  the 
New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  451 

direct,  were  contemplated  even  in  the  case  of  hostilities  carried 
against  the  two  great  belligerent  powers ;'  an  assertion  which 
renders  it  necessary  to  show  that  the  prospect  then  held  out  was 
not  deceptive,  and  why  it  has  not  been  realized. 

"  The  balance  in  the  Treasury  amounted  at  that  time  to  near 
fourteen  millions  of  dollars ;  but  aware  that  that  surplus  would 
in  a  short  time  be  expended,  and  having  stated  that  the  revenue 
was  daily  decreasing,  it  was  in  the  same  report  proposed  f  that 
all  the  existing  duties  should  be  doubled  on  importations  subse- 
quent to  the  1st  day  of  January,  1809.'  ...  If  the  measure 
then  submitted  had  been  adopted,  we  should,  after  making  a 
large  deduction  for  any  supposed  diminution  of  consumption 
arising  from  the  proposed  increase,  have  had  at  this  time  about 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  on  hand, — a  sum  greater  than  the  net 
amount  of  the  proposed  internal  taxes  for  four  years. 

"  In  proportion  as  the  ability  to  borrow  is  diminished,  the 
necessity  of  resorting  to  taxation  is  increased.  It  is  therefore 
also  proper  to  observe  that  at  that  time  the  subject  of  the  re- 
newal of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  been 
referred  by  the  Senate  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  nor  had 
any  symptom  appeared  from  which  its  absolute  dissolution,  with- 
out any  substitute,  could  have  then  been  anticipated.  The  re- 
newal in  some  shape  and  on  a  more  extensive  scale  was  confidently 
relied  on ;  and  accordingly,  in  the  report  made  during  the  same 
session  to  the  Senate,  the  propriety  of  increasing  the  capital  of 
the  bank  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars  was  submitted,  with  the 
condition  that  that  institution  should,  if  required,  be  obliged  to 
lend  one-half  of  its  capital  to  the  United  States.  The  amount 
thus  loaned  might  without  any  inconvenience  have  been  in- 
creased to  twenty  millions.  And  with  twenty  millions  of 
dollars  in  hand,  and  loans  being  secured  for  twenty  millions 
more,  without,  any  increase  of  the  stock  of  the  public  debt  at 
market,  internal  taxation  would  have  been  unnecessary  for  at 
least  four  years  of  war,  nor  any  other '  resource  been  wanted 
than  an  additional  annual  loan  of  five  millions,  a  sum  suffi- 
ciently moderate  to  be  obtained  from  individuals  and  on  favor- 
able terms." 

Leaving  Congress  to  reflect  at  its  leisure  upon  the  criticisms 


452  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1812. 

implied  in  these  remarks,  the  Secretary  went  on  to  lay  down 
the  rules  now  made  necessary  by  the  refusal  to  follow  his  pre- 
vious advice.  After  doubling  the  imposts  and  reimposing  the 
duty  on  salt,  he  could  promise  a  net  revenue  of  only  §6,000,000 
for  war  times.  The  committee  assumed  that  annual  loans  of 
$10,000,000  would  be  required  during  the  war,  which  left  an 
annual  deficiency,  to  be  provided  for  by  taxation,  amounting  to 
$5,000,000,  calculated  to  cover  the  interest  of  the  first  two  loans 
only,  after  which  additional  taxes  must  be  imposed  to  provide 
for  the  interest  of  future  loans. 

Five  millions  a  year,  therefore,  must  be  raised  by  internal 
taxes,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  proposed  to  obtain  three  millions  by  a 
direct  tax  and  two  millions  by  excise,  stamps,  licenses,  and  duties 
on  refined  sugar  and  carriages.  A  few  remarks  on  loans  and 
Treasury  notes  closed  the  letter. 

This  communication  startled  the  House,  and  even  produced 
an  excitement  of  no  ordinary  nature.  Congress  suddenly  awoke 
to  the  fact  that  the  Secretary  was  in  earnest,  and  that,  if  war 
came,  Congress  must  learn  to  take  advice.  The  faction  that 
followed  Mr.  Giles  and  General  Smith  were  not  quick  in  learn- 
ing this  lesson,  and  fairly  raved  against  the  Secretary.  What 
so  exasperated  them  may  be  gathered  best  from  a  speech  by  Mr. 
Wright,  of  Maryland,  one  of  the  most  extreme  of  the  Smith 
connection.  On  March  2,  1812,  he  spoke  thus: 

"  Sir,  at  the  last  session,  when  the  question  for  rechartering 
the  odious  British  bank  was  before  us,  we  had  to  encounter  the 
influence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  .  .  .  Now  at  this 
session  he  has  told  us  that,  if  we  had  a  national  bank,  we  should 
have  no  occasion  to  resort  to  internal  taxes ;  thereby  calling  the 
American  people  to  review  the  conduct  of  their  representatives 
in  not  continuing  that  bank,  and  thereby  to  fix  the  odium  of 
these  odious  taxes  on  the  National  Legislature.  Now  a  system 
of  taxes  is  presented  truly  odious,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  people, 
to  disgust  them  with  their  representatives  and  to  chill  the  war 
spirit.  Yet  it  is,  under  Treasury  influence,  to  be  impressed  on 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  through  them  on  the 
House.  Sir,  I,  as  a  representative  of  the  people,  feel  it  my  duty 
to  resist  it  with  all  my  energies.  .  .  .  Sir,  is  there  anything  of 


1812.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  453 

originality  in  his  system  ?  No !  It  is  treading  in  the  muddy 
footsteps  of  his  official  predecessors  in  attempting  to  strap  round 
the  necks  of  the  people  this  odious  system  of  taxation,  adopted 
by  them,  for  which  they  have  been  condemned  by  the  people 
and  dismissed  from  power.  .  .  .  And  now,  sir,  with  the  view 
of  destroying  this  Administration ;  with  this  sentence  of  a  dis- 
missal of  our  predecessors  in  office  before  our  eyes,  a  sentence 
not  only  sanctioned,  but  executed  by  ourselves,  we  are  to  be 
pressed  into  a  system  known  to  be  odious  in  the  sight  of  the 
people,  and  which,  on  its  first  presentation  in  a  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
and  by  them  submitted  to  us,  produced  such  an  excitement  in 
the  House." 

The  "  invisibles,"  however,  were  not  the  only  class  of  men 
upon  whom  the  war-budget  fell  with  startling  effect.  Mr. 
Gallatin's  old  friends  with  whom  he  had  acted  in  1792,  when 
at  the  unlucky  Pittsburg  meeting  they  had  united  in  declaring 
"  that  internal  taxes  upon  consumption,  from  their  very  nature, 
never  can  effectually  be  carried  into  operation  without  vesting 
the  officers  appointed  to  collect  them  with  powers  most  danger- 
ous to  the  civil  rights  of  freemen,  and  must  in  the  end  destroy 
the  liberties  of  every  country  in  which  they  are  introduced ;" 
men  like  William  Findley,  his  old  colleague,  were  so  deeply 
shocked  at  the  reintroduction  of  the  excise  that  they  would  not 
vote  even  for  the  printing  of  this  letter.  They  looked  upon 
Mr.  Gal  latin  as  guilty  of  flagrant  inconsistency.  They  did  not 
stop  to  reflect  that,  if  inconsistency  there  were,  it  dated  as  far 
back  as  1796,  when,  in  his  "Sketch  of  the  Finances,"  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  had  taken  essentially  the  same  view  of  the  excise  as  now;1 
and  again  in  1801,  when  he  had  refused  to  recommend  the  repeal 
of  the  internal  taxes. 

It  was  assumed  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could 
discover  unknown  resources;  the  Aurora  dreamed  of  endless 
wealth  in  the  national  lands ;  but  in  point  of  fact  this  letter  of 
Mr.  Gallatin's  erred  only  in  calling  for  too  little.  He  began 
by  accepting  the  committee's  estimate  that  loans  to  the  extent 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  iii.  pp.  90,  91. 


454  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1812. 

of  $50,000,000  would  carry  on  a  four  years'  war.  The  war 
lasted  two  years  and  a  half,  and  raised  the  national  debt  from 
$45,000,000  to  $123,000,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  somewhat  more 
than  $30,000,000  a  year,  nearly  three  times  the  estimate.  Had 
Mr.  Gallatin  foreseen  anything  like  the  truth  in  regard  to  the 
coming  contest,  his  demand  for  resources  would  have  appeared 
absurd,  and  he  would  have  lost  whatever  influence  he  still  had. 

For  once,  however,  Gallatin  was  master  of  the  situation.  He 
could  not  force  his  enemies  to  vote  for  the  taxes,  but  he  could 
force  them  to  vote  for  or  against,  and  either  alternative  was 
equally  unpleasant  to  them.  The  honest  supporters  of  war 
found  little  difficulty  in  following  Mr.  Gallatin's  lead,  but  the 
mere  trimmers,  and  the  men  who  supported  a  war  policy  be- 
cause the  Administration  opposed  it,  were  greatly  disturbed. 
Mr.  Bacon  brought  in  a  report  with  a  long  line  of  resolutions, 
and  seriously  proceeded  to  force  them  through  the  House. 
Nothing,  one  would  think,  could  have  given  Mr.  Gallatin 
keener  entertainment  than  to  see  how  his  enemies  acted  under 
this  first  turn  of  the  screw  which  they  themselves  had  set  in 
motion.  It  was  a  sign  that  government  was  again  at  work, 
and  that  the  long  period  of  chaos  was  coming  to  an  end ;  but 
the  struggle  to  escape  was  desperate,  and  it  was  partially  suc- 
cessful. At  first,  indeed,  Mr.  Gallatin  carried  his  point.  On 
the  4th  resolution,  for  a  tax  of  twenty  cents  a  bushel  on  salt,  the 
House  rebelled,  and  refused  the  rate  by  a  vote  of  60  to  57,  but 
the  next  day  the  whip  was  freely  applied,  and  Mr.  Wright  and 
his  friends  were  overthrown  by  a  vote  of  66  to  54.  This  settled 
the  matter  for  the  time,  and  the  House  meekly  swallowed  the 
whole  list  of  nauseous  taxes,  and  ordered  Mr.  Bacon's  committee, 
on  the  4th  March,  1812,  to  prepare  bills  in  conformity  with  the 
resolutions.  This  was  done,  but  the  bills  could  not  be  got  before 
the  House  till  June  26,  when  there  remained  but  ten  days  of 
the  session.  As  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  get  these  taxes 
adopted  by  the  House  and  Senate  in  that  short  time,  Mr.  Gal- 
latin was  obliged  to  consent  to  their  going  over  till  November. 
Congress,  however,  was  quite  ready  to  authorize  loans,  and 
promptly  began  with  one  of  eleven  millions,  which,  small  as  it 
was,  Mr.  Gallatin  found  difficulty  in  negotiating,  even  with  the 


1812. 


THE    TKEASUKY.      1801-1813. 


455 


active  and  valuable  assistance  of  Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor,  who 
now  became  a  considerable  power  in  the  state. 

The  attitude  of  the  Administration  towards  the  war  during 
the  winter  of  1811-12  seems  to  have  been  one  of  passive  acqui- 
escence. Nothing  has  yet  been  brought  to  light,  nor  do  the 
papers  left  by  Mr.  Gallatin  contain  the  smallest  evidence,  tend- 
ing to  show  that  Mr.  Madison  or  any  of  his  Cabinet  tried  to 
place  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  war  party.  That  they  did 
not  wish  for  war  is  a  matter  of  course.  Their  administrative 
difficulties  even  in  peace  were  so  great  as  to  paralyze  all  their 
efforts,  and  from  war  they  had  nothing  to  expect  but  an  infinite 
addition  to  them.  The  burden  would  fall  chiefly  upon  Mr. 
Gallatin,  who  knew  that  the  Treasury  must  break  down,  and 
upon  the  Secretary  of  War,  Eustis,  who  was  notoriously  incom- 
petent. Yet  even  Mr.  Gallatin  accepted  war  as  inevitable,  and 
wrote  in  that  sense  to  Mr.  Jefferson. 


GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  10th  March,  1812. 

DEAR  SIR, —  .  .  .  You  have  seen  from  your  retreat  that 
our  hopes  and  endeavors  to  preserve  peace  during  the  present 
European  contest  have  at  last  been  frustrated.  I  am  satisfied 
that  domestic  faction  has  prevented  that  happy  result.  But  I 
hope,  nevertheless,  that  our  internal  enemies  and  the  ambitious 
intriguers  who  still  attempt  to  disunite  will  ultimately  be  equally 
disappointed.  I  rely  with  great  confidence  on  the  good  sense 
of  the  mass  of  the  people  to  support  their  own  government  in  an 
unavoidable  war,  and  to  check  the  disordinate  ambition  of  indi- 
viduals. The  discoveries  made  by  Henry  will  have  a  salutary 
effect  in  annihilating  the  spirit  of  the  Essex  junto,  and  even  on 
the  new  focus  of  opposition  at  Albany.  Pennsylvania  never 
was  more  firm  or  united.  The  South  and  the  West  cannot  be 
shaken.  With  respect  to  the  war,  it  is  my  wish,  and  it  will  be 
my  endeavor,  so  far  as  I  may  have  any  agency,  that  the  evils 
inseparable  from  it  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  limited  to  its 
duration,  and  that  at  its  end  the  United  States  may  be  burthened 
with  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of  debt,  perpetual  taxation, 


456  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1812. 

military  establishments,  and  other  corrupting  or  anti-republican 
habits  or  institutions. 

Accept  the  assurances  of  my  sincere  and  unalterable  attach- 
ment and  respect. 

Nevertheless  there  has  always  been  something  mysterious  about 
Mr.  Madison's  share  in  causing  the  final  declaration.  This 
letter  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  dated  March  10,  shows  that  he  already 
considered  war  to  be  unavoidable.  On  the  3d  April,  only 
three  weeks  later,  Mr.  Madison  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson  that  the 
action  of  the  British  government  in  refusing  to  repeal  the  orders 
in  council  left  us  nothing  to  do  but  to  prepare  for  war,  and 
that  an  embargo  for  sixty  days  had  been  recommended.  The 
embargo  was  accordingly  imposed,  and  on  June  1  Mr.  Madison 
finally  sent  in  his  message  recommending  a  declaration  of  war 
against  Great  Britain,  which  took  place  on  June  18. 

The  Federalist  party,  however,  always  maintained  that  Mr. 
Madison  was  dragooned  into  the  war  by  a  committee  of  Congress. 
The  assertion  is  that  the  President,  though  willing  to  accept  and 
sign  a  bill  declaring  war,  was  very  far  from  wishing  to  recom- 
mend it,  and  that  to  overcome  his  reluctance  a  committee  headed 
by  Clay  waited  upon  him  to  announce  that  he  must  either  recom- 
mend the  declaration  or  lose  the  nomination  for  the  Presidency 
which  was  then  pending ;  that  he  yielded  ;  received  the  nomina- 
tion on  May  18,  and  sent  in  his  message  on  June  1. 

This  story,  openly  told  in  Congress  soon  afterwards,  and  as 
openly  and  positively  denied  by  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends,  has 
crept  into  all  the  principal  histories,  and  in  spite  of  contradiction 
has  acquired  much  of  the  force  of  established  fact.  It  has  even 
been  supported  by  an  avowal  of  James  Fisk,  a  prominent  mem- 
ber from  Vermont,  that  he  was  himself  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee. The  charge,  such  as  it  is,  has  been  the  principal  stain  on 
the  political  history  of  Mr.  Madison,  and  also  by  consequence 
upon  that  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  who,  according  to  Mr.  Hildreth,1 
"  clung  with  tenacity  to  office"  and  "  did  not  choose  to  risk  his 
place  by  openly  opposing  what  he  labored  in  vain  by  indirect 

1  History,  II.  Series,  iii.  334. 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.      1801-1813.  457 

means  to  prevent,"  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Gallatin  would  probably 
have  been  only  too  happy  to  find  any  honorable  way  of  escaping 
from  office. 

The  papers  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  like  those  of  Mr.  Madison  and 
Mr.  Monroe,  are  quite  silent  upon  this  subject.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  papers  of  Timothy  Pickering  supply  at  least  the 
authority  on  which  the  charge  was  made.  The  two  following 
letters  tell  their  own  story,  and,  although  they  affect  Mr.  Galla- 
tin's  reputation  only  indirectly,  they  have  a  considerable  negative 
value  even  for  him. 


TIMOTHY   PICKERING   TO   ABRAHAM   SHEPHERD. 

CITY  OF  WASHINGTON,  February  12,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, — At  the  last  autumn  session,  Mr.  Hanson,  noticing 
the  manner  in  which  the  war  was  produced,  in  addressing  Clay, 
the  Speaker,  spoke  to  this  effect :  "  You  know,  sir,  that  the  Presi- 
dent was  coerced  into  the  measure;  that  a  committee  called  upon 
him  and  told  him  that  if  he  did  not  recommend  a  declaration  of 
war,  he  would  lose  his  election.  And  then  he  sent  his  message 
recommending  the  declaration." 

Now,  my  dear  sir,  I  learn  from  Mr.  Hanson  that  Colonel 
Thomas  Worthington,  Senator,  on  his  way  home  to  Ohio,  gave 
you  the  above  information,  and  mentioned  the  names  of  Henry 
Clay,  Felix  Grundy,  and  some  other  or  others  who  composed 
the  committee.  This  is  a  very  important  fact,  and  I  pray  you 
will  do  me  the  favor  to  recollect  and  state  to  me  all  the  informa- 
tion you  possess  on  the  subject ;  at  what  time  and  from  whom 
you  received  it. 

ABRAHAM   SHEPHERD   TO   TIMOTHY   PICKERING. 

Near  SHEPHERDSTOWN,  February  20,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  the  12th  instant,  and 
observed  the  contents.  Some  time  in  the  beginning  of  April, 
1812,  General  Worthington  came  to  my  house  from  the  city  to 
see  Mrs.  Worthington  and  children  set  out  for  Ohio ;  he  con- 
tinued part  of  two  days  at  my  house,  within  which  time  we  had 


458  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1812. 

considerable  conversation  on  the  prospect  of  war.  He  insisted 
war  was  inevitable.  I  condemned  the  folly  and  madness  of  such 
a  measure.  He  then  told  me  that  Mr.  Bayard  would  first  be 
sent  to  England  to  make  one  effort  more  to  prevent  the  war ;  that 
Mr.  Madison  had  consented  to  do  so ;  and  that  Mr.  Bayard  had 
agreed  to  go ;  that  he  had  used  every  means  in  his  power  with 
some  more  of  the  moderate  men  of  their  party  to  effect  this  object, 
and  that  he  had  frequent  conversations  with  Mr.  Madison  and 
Bayard  on  this  subject  before  it  was  effected,  and  that  I  might 
rely  upon  it  that  such  measures  would  be  adopted.  He  left 
my  house  and  returned  to  the  city.  After  the  declaration  of 
war  and  rising  of  Congress,  General  Worth ington,  on  his  way 
home  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  called  at  my  house  and  stayed  a 
night.  I  then  asked  him  what  had  prevented  the  President 
from  carrying  into  effect  this  intended  mission  to  England,  and 
observed  I  was  very  sorry  it  had  not  been  put  in  execution. 
He  answered  he  was  as  sorry  as  I  possibly  could  be,  and  that 
he  had  never  met  with  any  occurrence  in  his  life  that  had  morti- 
fied him  so  much.  He  said  as  soon  as  he  returned  to  the  city 
from  my  house  he  was  informed  of  what  had  taken  place  by 
a  set  of  hot-headed,  violent  men,  and  he  immediately  waited  on 
Mr.  Madison  to  know  the  cause.  Mr.  Madison  told  him  that 
his  friends  had  waited  upon  him  and  said,  if  he  did  send  Mr. 
Bayard  to  England  they  would  forsake  him  and  be  opposed  to 
him^  and  he  was  compelled  to  comply,  or  bound  to  comply, 
with  their  wishes.  I  then  asked  General  'Worthington  who 
those  hot-headed,  violent  men  were.  He  said  Mr.  Clay  was  the 
principal.  I  cannot  positively  say,  but  think  Grundy  was  men- 
tioned with  Clay. 

I  clearly  understood  that  Clay  and  Grundy  were  two  of  the 
number  that  waited  on  the  President.  I  did  not  ask  him  how 
he  got  his  information.  As  I  understood  the  business,  a  caucus 
was  held  and  Mr.  Clay  and  others  appointed,  and  waited  on  the 
President  in  the  absence  of  Worthington,  which  will  ascertain 
when  this  business  took  place. 

Mr.  Pickering  seems  to  have  thought  that  this  explanation 
hardly  supported  the  charge,  and  he  discreetly  allowed  the  sub- 


1812.  THE    TKEASURY.     1801-1813.  459 

ject  to  drop.  So  far,  indeed,  as  the  original  charge  was  con- 
cerned, the  letter  of  Mr.  Shepherd  entirely  disposed  of  it,  and 
proved  that  Mr.  Hanson  and  Mr.  Pickering  had  no  authority  for 
asserting  that  the  President  was  coerced  into  sending  the  message 
of  June  1,  or  that  this  message  was  the  price  of  his  re-nomina- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Shepherd's  statement  raises  a  new 
charge  against  Mr.  Madison.  In  his  letter  of  24th  April,  1812, 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  President  said :  "  You  will  have  noticed 
that  the  embargo,  as  recommended  to  Congress,  was  limited  to 
sixty  days.  Its  extension  to  ninety  proceeded  from  the  united 
votes  of  those  who  wished  to  make  it  a  negotiating  instead  of  a 
war  measure,"  &c.,  &c.  Of  these  Senator  Worthington  was 
doubtless  one,  for  the  substitution  of  "  90"  for  "  60"  was  made 
by  the  Senate  on  April  3,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Leib,  and  Worthing- 
ton voted  for  it.  There  was,  then,  a  party  in  Congress  which 
wished  to  use  the  embargo  as  a  weapon  of  negotiation.  It  is 
not  improbable  that  this  party  may  have  wished  Mr.  Madison 
to  send  a  special  mission  to  England,  and  that  they  may  have 
pressed  Mr.  Bayard  for  the  place.  It  is  possible  that  Clay  and 
his  friends  may  have  told  Mr.  Madison  that  in  such  a  step  he 
must  not  expect  their  support.  This  is  all  that  can  be  now 
affirmed  in  regard  to  the  celebrated  charge  that  Mr.  Madison 
made  war  in  order  to  obtain  a  re-election. 

Mr.  Madison's  Administration  wanted  energy  and  force.  No 
one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  private  history  of  this  party 
can  escape  the  confession  that  the  President  commanded  personal 
love  and  esteem  in  a  far  higher  degree  than  obedience.  Whether 
Senator  Worthington  counted  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
among  the  active  supporters  of  his  proposed  peace  mission  does 
not  appear,  nor  is  there  any  clue  to  the  other  friends  of  that 
policy ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  was  merely  one 
of  many  suggestions  with  which  the  remnant  of  the  old  Jeffer- 
sonian  democracy  struggled  in  a  helpless  way  to  stem  the  current 
of  the  times.  Mr.  Gallatin's  ears  were  wearied  with  the  com- 
plaints and  remonstrances  of  his  friends,  the  Macons,  the  Worth- 
ingtons,  the  Dallases,  the  Nicholsons ;  and  the  strident  tones  of 
John  Randolph  echoed  their  complaints  to  the  public.  The 
President  heard,  but,  both  by  temperament  and  conviction,  fol- 


460  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN. 

lowed  the  path  which  seemed  nearest  the  general  popular  move- 
ment, without  a  serious  effort  to  direct  it  or  to  provide  for  its 
consequences.  Even  Mr.  Worthington  believed  war  to  be  inev- 
itable. Yet  had  they  known  that  only  the  utter  disorganization 
of  the  British  government  now  prevented  a  repeal  of  the  orders 
in  council ;  had  there  been  an  American  minister  in  London 
capable  of  seeing  through  the  outer  shell  of  politics  and  of 
measuring  the  force  of  social  movements,  war  might  even  yet 
have  been  avoided.  Nay,  had  Mr.  Madison  thrown  himself  at 
this  decisive  moment  into  the  arms  of  the  peace  party ;  had  he, 
on  the  1st  April,  1812,  sent  to  the  Senate,  together  with  his 
embargo  message,  the  nominations  of  Mr.  Bayard  and  Mr. 
Monroe  or  Mr.  Gal  latin  as  special  commissioners  to  England, 
the  war  could  hardly  have  happened,  for  the  commissioners 
would  have  found  the  orders  in  council  revoked  before  negotia- 
tions could  have  been  seriously  begun. 

This,  however,  Mr.  Madison  did  not  know,  and,  perhaps,  even 
had  he  known  it,  the  fate  of  John  Adams  might  have  seemed  to 
his  gentler  spirit  a  warning  not  to  thwart  a  party  policy.  His 
action  was  founded  on  the  official  utterances  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment and  the  temper  of  our  own  people;  it  was  perfectly 
consistent  from  beginning  to  end,  and  there  was  no  disagreement 
in  the  Cabinet  on  the  subject.  It  is  true  that  until  Congress  met 
he  was  in  doubt  what  course  was  best  to  pursue;  his  message  did 
not  directly  recommend  war;  but  from  the  moment  Congress 
assembled  and  showed  a  disposition  to  support  the  national  dig- 
nity, Mr.  Madison  and  his  Cabinet  accepted  the  situation  and 
needed  no  outside  compulsion.  To  use  his  own  words,  as  written 
down  by  a  celebrated  visitor  in  the  year  1836,  "  he  knew  the  un- 
prepared state  of  the  country,  but  he  esteemed  it  necessary  to  throw 
forward  the  flag  of  the  country,  sure  that  the  people  would  press 
onward  and  defend  it." l  He  had  been  ready  to  do  this  in  the 
winter  of  1808-09.  He  had  urged  measures  almost  equivalent  to 

1  WASHINGTON,  llth  April,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — In  March,  1836,  I  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Madison  for 
several  days.  He  knew  the  object  of  my  visit,  and  kept  me  at  his  side  during 
many  hours  of  each  day,  sometimes  starting  topics,  sometimes  answer- 
ing my  questions  and  allowing  me  to  take  down  his  words  from  his  lips  in 


1812.  THE     TREASURY.     1801-1813.  461 

war  in  every  following  session,  so  far  as  Congress  would  allow 
him  to  do  so.  He  had  wished  to  maintain  peace,  but  he  had  been 
quite  aware  that  government  must  have  the  moral  courage  to  resist 
outrage,  as  a  condition  of  maintaining  peace.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  his  party  was  far  behind  him,  and  that,  as  a  consequence,  the 
whole  foreign  policy  from  February,  1809,  to  June,  1812,  was 
one  long  series  of  blunders  and  misfortunes.  France  made  a 
dupe  of  him  and  betrayed  him  into  a  diplomatic  position  which 
was,  as  regarded  England,  untenable.  To  use  his  own  words  in 
a  letter  to  Joel  Barlow,  his  minister  at  Paris,  dated  August  11, 
1812  :  "  The  conduct  of  the  French  government  .  .  .  will  be 
an  everlasting  reproach  to  it.  ...  In  the  event  of  a  pacification 
with  Great  Britain,  the  full  tide  of  indignation  with  which  the 
public  mind  here  is  boiling,  will  be  directed  against  France,  if 
not  obviated  by  a  due  reparation  of  her  wrongs.  War  will  be 
called  for  by  the  nation  almost  una  voee."  But  the  diplomatic 
mistake  did  not  affect  the  essential  merits  of  the  case,  and  the 
factiousness  of  Congress  merely  prevented  the  possibility  of  a 
peaceable  solution.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  offers  the 
smallest  evidence  of  inconsistency  in  Mr.  Madison  or  in  his 
Cabinet.  Even  Mr.  Gallatin,  to  whose  success  peace  was  essen- 
tial, had  never  wished  and  did  not  now  wish  to  obtain  it  by 
deprecating  war. 

The  real  trouble  which  weighed  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin was  not  the  war;  he  accepted  this  as  inevitable.  His 
difficulty  was  that  the  government  wanted  the  faculties  neces- 
sary for  carrying  on  a  war  with  success,  and  that  Mr.  Madison 
was  not  the  person  to  supply,  by  his  own  energy  and  will,  the 

his  presence.  The  memorandum  annexed  is,  for  the  most  part,  in  his  own 
words,  and  committed  to  paper  as  they  were  uttered. 

Ever  yours, 

GEORGE  BANCROFT. 

[Memorandum.]  March,  1836. — Madison  was  a  friend  of  peace.  But  he 
told  me  "  that  the  British  left  no  option  ;  that  war  was  made  necessary  ;  that 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  negotiations  with  England  war  was  unavoid- 
able." He  further  said,  "  he  knew  the  unprepared  state  of  the  country,  but 
he  esteemed  it  necessary  to  throw  forward  the  flag  of  the  country,  sure  that 
the  people  would  press  onward  and  defend  it." 


462  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1812. 

deficiencies  of  the  system.  Mr.  Gallatin  knew,  what  was  known 
to  every  member  of  Congress  and  every  newspaper  editor  in  the 
land,  that  both  the  Navy  and  Army  Departments  were  wholly 
unequal  to  the  war.  With  regard  to  the  navy,  this  was  of  the 
less  consequence,  because  the  subordinate  material  was  excellent, 
and  our  naval  officers  were  sure  to  supply  the  lack  of  energy  in 
their  official  head ;  yet  even  here  the  mere  fact  that  Governor 
Hamilton  wanted  the  qualities  necessary  to  a  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  in  war  times  diminished  the  confidence  of  the  public  and 
the  vigor  of  the  Cabinet.  In  regard  to  Dr.  Eustis  and  the  War 
Department  the  situation  was  far  worse ;  this  had  always  been 
the  weak  branch  of  our  system,  for  the  army  was  wanting  in 
very  nearly  every  element  of  success  derived  from  efficient 
organization.  Complete  collapse  was  inevitable  if  the  situation 
were  prolonged. 

The  weight  of  government  now  fell  almost  wholly  upon  Mr. 
Monroe  and  Mr.  Gallatin ;  it  is  believed  that  even  the  Act  for 
the  organization  of  the  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  was 
drawn  up  by  Mr.  Gallatin.  The  Cabinet  broke  down  first  of 
all,  and  this  helplessness  of  the  War  Secretaries,  as  they  were 
called,  has  led  to  a  strange  mystification  of  history  in  regard  to 
the  first  achievements  of  our  navy  in  1812.  Long  afterwards, 
in  the  year  1845,  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  published  a  history  of 
the  war,  in  which  he  dealt  his  blows  very  freely  upon  Mr.  Madi- 
son and  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  charged  them,  among  other  things, 
with  having  meant  to  dismantle  our  frigates  and  convert  them 
into  harbor  defences.  This  attack  drew  a  paper  from  Commo- 
dore Stewart,  who  gave  another  account  of  the  affair.  His 
statement  was  that  he  and  Commodore  Bainbridge  arrived  at 
Washington  on  the  20th  June;  that  on  the  21st  they  were 
shown  by  Mr.  Goldsborough,  chief  clerk  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment, a  paper  containing  the  orders,  which  had  just  been  drawn, 
for  Commodore  Rodgers  not  to  leave  the  waters  of  New  York 
with  his  naval  force ;  that  on  the  same  day  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  informed  them  that  it  had  been  decided  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  Cabinet  to  lay  up  our  vessels  of  war  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York ;  that  they  had  an  interview  with  the  President 
on  the  same  day,  in  which  the  President  confirmed  this  decision ; 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  463 

that  on  the  22d  the  two  commodores  presented  a  joint  remon- 
strance ;  and  that  the  subsequent  orders,  under  which  the  vessels 
went  to  sea,  were  the  result  of  this  remonstrance.  A  letter  of 
Mr.  Goldsborough  to  Commodore  Bainbridge,  dated  May  4, 
1825,  confirmed  the  fact  of  the  joint  remonstrance,  and  added 
some  details  in  regard  to  the  transaction. 

This  statement  of  Commodore  Stewart  drew  from  Mr.  Gal  latin 
a  reply,  which  will  be  found  in  his  printed  Writings.1  He 
asserted  that  he  had  no  recollection  of  any  such  scheme  for  lay- 
ing up  the  frigates ;  that  he  was  confident  no  such  Cabinet  coun- 
cil was  ever  held  as  was  referred  to  by  Commodore  Stewart;  that 
the  President,  under  the  laws,  had  no  power  to  make  such  a  dis- 
position of  the  navy;  that  Congress  had  never  contemplated 
anything  of  the  sort ;  and  that  the  orders  previously  or  simulta- 
neously given  contradicted  such  an  idea. 

His  remarks  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  however,  show 
the  situation  as  it  then  existed :  "  Owing  to  circumstances  irrel- 
evant to  any  question  now  at  issue,  my  intercourse  with  Mr. 
Hamilton  was  very  limited.  He  may  have  been  inefficient ;  he 
certainly  was  an  amiable,  kind-hearted,  and  honorable  gentle- 
man. From  his  official  reports  he  appears  to  have  been  de- 
voted to  the  cause  of  the  navy,  and  I  never  heard  him  express 
opinions  such  as  he  is  stated  to  have  entertained  on  that  sub- 
ject. Yet  his  official  instructions  of  18th  June  and  3d  July, 
1812,  to  Commodore  Hull,  which  I  saw  for  the  first  time  in 
Mr.  IngersolFs  work,  evince  an  anxiety  bordering  on  timidity, 
a  fear  to  assume  any  responsibility,  and  a  wish,  if  any  misfor- 
tune should  happen,  to  make  the  officer  solely  responsible  for  it." 

Mr.  Ingersoll  and  Commodore  Stewart,  though  in  different 
ways,  both  in  effect  charged  upon  Mr.  Gallatin  this  scheme  of 
laying  up  the  navy ;  it  was,  according  to  them,  his  influence  in 
the  Cabinet  which  had  almost  deprived  the  nation  of  its  maritime 
glories.  This  is  one  of  those  curious  echoes  of  popular  notions 
which  so  often  bias  historians,  and  was  founded  partly  on  his 
old  hostility  to  the  navy,  partly  on  his  known  indisposition 
towards  the  war.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  truth  in  it.  Mr. 

1  Vol.  ii.  p.  611. 


464  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIS.  1812. 

Gallatin  has  himself,  in  the  paper  quoted  above,  recorded  his 
feelings  about  the  navy  at  this  time : 

"For  myself  I  have  no  reason  to  complain.  Commodore 
Stewart,  in  mentioning  my  name,  only  repeats  what  he  heard 
another  say,  and  he  ascribes  to  me  none  but  honorable  motives 
and  opinions,  which,  as  he  believed,  were  generally  those  of  the 
public  at  large.  He  says,  indeed,  that  out  of  the  navy  he  knew 
at  Philadelphia  but  one  man  who  thought  otherwise.  My  asso- 
ciations were,  however,  more  fortunate.  From  my  numerous 
connections  and  friends  in  the  navy,  and  particularly  from 
conversations  with  Commodore  Decatur,  who  had  explained  to 
me  the  various  improvements  introduced  in  our  public  ships,  I 
had  become  satisfied  that  our  navy  would,  on  equal  terms,  prove 
equal  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  I  may  aver  that  this  was  the 
opinion  not  only  of  Mr.  Madison,  but  of  the  majority  of  those  in 
and  out  of  Congress  with  whom  I  conversed.  The  apprehen- 
sion, as  far  as  I  knew,  was  not  on  that  account,  but  that  by 
reason  of  the  prodigious  numerical  superiority  of  the  British 
there  would  be  little  chance  for  engagements  on  equal  terms, 
and  that  within  a  short  time  our  public  ships  could  afford  no 
protection  to  our  commerce.  But  this  did  not  apply  to  the 
short  period  immediately  subsequent  to  the  declaration  of  war, 
when  the  British  naval  force  in  this  quarter  was  hardly  superior 
to  that  of  the  United  States.  The  expectation  was  general,  and 
nowhere  more  so  than  in  New  York,  where  the  immediate  cap- 
ture of  the  Belvidere  was  anticipated,  that  our  public  ships  would 
sail  the  moment  that  war  was  declared.  In  keeping  them  in  port 
at  that  time  the  Administration  would  have  acted  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  intentions  of  Congress  and  to  public  opinion." 

Commodore  Stewart  replied  in  rather  indifferent  temper  to  Mr. 
Gallatin's  very  mild  statement,1  but  in  doing  so  he  printed  the 
sailing  orders  of  June  22,  1812.  An  examination  of  the  Madi- 
son papers  in  the  State  Department  at  Washington  also  brings  to 
light  the  following  note,  and  by  placing  the  note  of  Mr.  Gallatin 
side  by  side  with  the  sailing  orders  sent  by  the  Secretary  of  the 

1  All  these  papers  will  be  found  in  Niles's  Kegister  for  1845,  and  in  the 
New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


1812.  THE     TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  465 

Navy  to  Commodore  Rodgers,  it  will  be  easily  seen  who  was  re- 
sponsible for  sending  Rodgers  to  sea. 


GALLATIN   TO   MADISON. 

[No  date.     June  20  or  21,  1812.] 

DEAR  SIR, — I  believe  the  weekly  arrivals  from  foreign  ports 
will  for  the  coming  four  weeks  average  from  one  to  one  and  a 
half  million  dollars  a  week.  To  protect  these  and  our  coasting 
vessels  whilst  the  British  have  still  an  inferior  force  on  our 
coasts,  appears  to  me  of  primary  importance.  I  think  that 
orders  to  that  effect  ordering  them  to  cruise  accordingly  ought 
to  have  been  sent  yesterday,  and  that  at  all  events  not  one  day 
longer  ought  to  be  lost. 

Respectfully. 

SECRETARY  HAMILTON   TO   COMMODORE   RODGERS. 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  22d  June,  1812. 

.  .  .  For  the  present  it  has  been  judged  expedient  so  to  employ 
our  public  armed  vessels  as  to  afford  to  our  returning  commerce 
all  possible  protection.  Nationally  and  individually  the  safe 
return  of  our  commercial  vessels  is  obviously  of  the  highest  im- 
portance, and,  to  accomplish  this  object  as  far  as  may  be  in  your 
power,  you  will  without  doubt  exert  your  utmost  means  and  con- 
sult your  best  judgment.  .  .  .  Your  general  cruising  ground  for 
the  present  will  be  from  the  Capes  of  the  Chesapeake  eastwardly. 
Commodore  Decatur,  .  .  .  having  the  same  object  in  view,  will, 
for  the  present,  cruise  from  New  York  southwardly.  .  .  .  You 
are  now  in  possession  of  the  present  views  of  the  government  in 
relation  to  the  employment  of  our  vessels  of  war.  .  .  . 

These  two  documents  establish  beyond  question  the  curious 
fact  that  it  was  Mr.  Gallatin  who  fixed  the  policy  of  the  Admin- 
istration in  regard  to  the  navy  in  1812;  that  it  was  he  who  urged 
the  President  and  the  Navy  Department  up  to  their  work ;  and 
that  it  was  he  who  should  have  had  the  credit,  whatever  it  may 
be,  of  sending  Rodgers  and  Decatur  to  sea.  These  orders  of  June 

30 


466  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1812. 

22  were  the  actual  cruising  orders  which  settled  the  policy  of  the 
navy  for  the  time,  and  took  the  place  of  temporary  orders  issued 
to  Rodgers  on  June  18,  in  which  he  was  directed  to  make  a  dash 
at  the  British  cruisers  off  Sandy  Hook  and  return  immediately 
to  New  York. 

In  the  face  of  these  incontrovertible  pieces  of  evidence,  one  is 
left  to  wonder  what  can  have  been  the  foundation  for  the  circum- 
stantial story  told  by  Stewart  and  Bainbridge  that  they  read  on 
June  21, 1812,  in  the  chief  clerk's  room  at  the  Navy  Department 
in  Washington,  orders  which  had  just  been  drawn  at  the  instance 
of  Mr.  Gallatin  for  Commodore  Rodgers  not  to  leave  the  waters 
of  New  York  with  his  naval  force ;  orders  issued,  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  then  and  there  explained,  because  it  had  been 
decided  by  the  President  and  Cabinet,  also  at  Mr.  Gallatin's 
suggestion,  to  dismantle  the  ships  and  use  them  as  floating  bat- 
teries to  defend  New  York  harbor;  and  that  the  cancelling 
of  these  orders  and  the  reversal  of  this  policy  were  due  to  the 
vehement  remonstrances  of  these  two  gallant  naval  officers, 
who  won  a  victory  in  the  President's  mind  over  the  blasting 
and  fatal  influence  of  Mr.  Gallatin.  It  is  a  new  illustration 
of  the  old  jealousy  between  arms  and  gowns. 

GALLATIN   TO  JOSEPH   H.  NICHOLSON. 

WASHINGTON,  26th  June,  1812. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  am  just  informed  that  you  are  in  Baltimore. 
If  it  be  true  that  your  Legislature  has  authorized  the  banks  to 
lend  a  portion  of  their  capital  to  the  United  States,  can  you  ascer- 
tain what  amount  may  be  obtained  from  them  all  either  by  taking 
stock  or  by  way  of  temporary  loans  reimbursable  at  the  expira- 
tion of  one  or  more  years  ?  We  have  not  money  enough  to  last 
till  1st  January  next,  and  General  Smith  is  using  every  endeavor 
to  run  us  aground  by  opposing  everything,  Treasury  notes, 
double  duties,  &c.  The  Senate  is  so  nearly  divided  and  the 
divisions  so  increased  by  that  on  the  war  question  that  we  can 
hardly  rely  on  carrying  anything.  .  .  . 

War  being  now  declared,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  condemned  to  do 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  467 

that  which,  of  all  financial  work,  he  most  abhorred ;  to  pile  debt 
upon  debt ;  "  to  act  the  part  of  a  mere  financier ;  to  become  a 
contriver  of  taxes,  a  dealer  of  loans,"  and,  in  the  inevitable 
waste  of  war,  to  be  the  helpless  abettor  of  extravagance  and 
mismanagement.  These  were  not  the  objects  for  which  he  had 
taken  office;  they  were,  in  fact,  precisely  the  acts  for  which 
he  had  attacked  his  predecessors,  had  driven  them  from  power, 
and  appropriated  their  offices  and  honors,  and  no  one  felt  this 
inconsistency  more  severely  than  Mr.  Gallatin  himself,  although 
five  years  of  painful  effort  and  constant  failure  had  taught 
him  how  feeble  were  party  principles  and  private  convictions 
in  the  face  of  facts.  He  was  compelled  to  go  on  and  to  see 
worse  things  still.  Every  part  of  the  administrative  system, 
except  one,  collapsed.  The  war  was  miserably  disastrous.  The 
Act  for  raising  25,000  men  had  not  become  law  until  the  llth 
January,  1812;  the  selection  of  officers  was  not  completed  until 
the  close  of  the  year;  the  recruiting  service  was  not  organ- 
ized in  time ;  the  enlistments  fell  short  of  the  most  moderate 
calculation,  and  the  total  number  of  recruits  was  so  small  as  to 
make  impossible  any  decisive  movement  oil  the  line  of  Lake 
Champlain,  although  Montreal  was  almost  unprotected.  No 
sufficient  naval  force  was  provided  on  the  Lakes,  and  in  conse- 
quence an  American  army  at  Detroit  was  surrounded  and  cap- 
tured by  a  mere  mob  of  Canadians  and  Indians,  who,  inferior 
in  every  other  respect  to  their  opponents,  had  the  inestimable 
advantage  of  a  brave,  energetic,  and  capable  leader.  Bad  as 
this  experience  was,  it  hardly  equalled  the  military  performances 
at  Niagara,  where  the  commanding  generals  showed  a  degree  of 
incompetence  that  descended  at  last  to  sheer  buffoonery.  The 
War  Department  in  all  its  branches  completely  broke  down,  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  exploits  of  those  half-dozen  frigates 
whose  construction  had  been  so  vehemently  resisted  by  the  Re- 
publican party  under  Mr.  Gallatin's  lead,  the  Navy  Department 
would  have  appeared  equally  poorly.  The  control  of  the  Lakes 
was  in  fact  lost,  and  only  partially  regained  in  1813;  the  whole 
gun-boat  system,  on  which  millions  had  been  wasted,  went  to 
pieces ;  even  the  frigates  were  mostly  soon  captured  or  block- 
aded, and,  but  for  the  privateers,  England,  at  the  end  of  the 


468  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1812. 

war,  had  little  to  fear  on  the  ocean.  Amid  this  general  collapse 
of  administration,  Mr.  Gallatin  might  have  found  hope  and 
comfort  had  Congress  shown  capacity,  but  Congress  was  at  least 
as  inefficient  as  the  Executive.  Nothing  could  induce  it  to  face 
the  situation;  with  the  exception  of  an  Act  for  doubling  the 
duties  on  importations,  it  passed  no  tax  Jaw  until  more  than  a 
year  after  the  declaration  of  war,  and  it  was  not  till  the  public 
credit  was  ruined  and  the  Treasury  notes  were  dishonored  that 
Mr.  Dallas,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing the  Legislature  to  double  the  direct  tax,  to  increase  the  rate 
of  the  internal  duties  and  add  new  ones,  immediately  before  the 
peace.1 

A  thorough  reorganization  of  the  Executive  Departments  was 
necessary,  and  should  have  been  undertaken  by  the  President 
before  the  war  was  even  declared,  but  energy  in  administration 
was  not  a  characteristic  of  Mr.  Madison.  He  hesitated,  delayed, 
postponed,  and  at  length,  as  in  the  case  of  Robert  Smith,  he 
was  dragged  at  the  heels  of  men  and  events.  Hardly  a  month 
had  passed  since  the  declaration  of  war,  and  Congress  had 
adjourned  on  July  6  to  meet  again  on  the  3d  November;  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  just  started  for  New  York  to  seek  for  money,  and 
the  President  had  set  out  for  his  farm  at  Montpelier,  when  an 
express  arrived  with  the  news  that  General  Hull  had  surren- 
dered Detroit.  What  Mr.  Gallatin  thought  of  this  affair  may 
be  inferred  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  to  his  wife : 

GALLATIN    TO   HIS   WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  31st  August,  1812. 

.  .  .  Hull  has  in  unaccountable  manner  surrendered  all  his 
troops  (about  1800)  prisoners  of  war  to  an  inferior  force.  We 
have  no  direct  accounts  from  him,  but  the  fear  of  Indians  for 
himself  and  the  inhabitants  is  the  probable  cause  of  his  not 
having  extricated  himself  by  retiring  and  abandoning  the  coun- 
try. Proper  measures  for  repairing  the  loss  will  be  adopted ; 
but  how  they  will  be  executed  by  Eustis,  no  one  can  say.  .  .  . 

1  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  iii.  p.  538. 


1812.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  469 

The  disaster  at  Detroit  made  a  change  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment inevitable,  but  the  change  was  not  yet  made.  Mr.  Gallatin 
pressed  it  as  necessary  from  a  financial  point  of  view.  When 
he  found  that  the  army  and  navy  estimates  would  require  a  loan 
of  $21,000,000  for  the  year  1813,  he  wrote  to  the  President  as 
follows :  "  I  think  a  loan  to  that  amount  to  be  altogether  un- 
attainable. From  banks  we  can  expect  little  or  nothing,  as  they 
have  already  lent  nearly  to  the  full  extent  of  their  faculties. 
All  that  I  could  obtain  this  year  from  individual  subscriptions 
does  not  exceed  $3,200,000.  There  are  but  two  practicable 
ways  of  diminishing  the  expenditure :  1,  by  confining  it  to 
necessary  objects;  2,  by  introducing  perfect  system  and  sup- 
pressing abuses  in  the  necessary  branches.  1.  In  the  War  De- 
partment, to  reduce  the  calls  for  militia,  and,  above  all,  to  keep 
the  control  over  those  calls  and  other  contingent  expenses ;  in 
the  Navy,  to  diminish  greatly  the  number  of  gun-boats,  and 
to  strike  off  all  supernumerary  midshipmen,  pursers,  sailing- 
masters,  and  other  unnecessary  officers.  2.  System  requires  skill 
in  forming  and  decision  in  executing.  But  the  preparing  and 
executing  such  plans  must  rest  almost  exclusively  with  the  heads 
of  the  Departments.  I  have  no  doubt  that  knowledge  and 
talents  would  save  several  millions,  and  the  necessary  business 
be  better  done." 

This  letter  was  written  towards  the  end  of  October,  1812. 
Already  on  the  llth  of  that  month,  as  appears  from  a  brief 
note  written  by  Mr.  Gallatin  to  the  President,1  some  exchange 
of  places  had  been  suggested  by  Mr.  Madison,  perhaps  between 
Eustis  and  Monroe,  but  the  suggestion  was  condemned  by  Gal- 
latin as  more  open  to  criticism  than  almost  any  other  course  that 
could  be  adopted.  So  far  as  can  now  be  guessed,  it  is  probable 
that  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Monroe  wished  to  reorganize  the 
Cabinet  throughout;  Mr.  Monroe  would  then  have  become 
Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Gallatin  would  have  succeeded  him  as 
Secretary  of  State,  and  possibly  William  H.  Crawford  would 
have  taken  the  Treasury;  an  arrangement  which  would  have 
given  great  strength  to  the  government  and  eliminated  many 

1  Gallatin 's  Writings,  i.  526. 


470  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1812. 

causes  of  weakness.  To  this,  however,  Mr.  Madison  would  not 
consent,  probably  from  the  belief  that  it  would  infalliby  be  de- 
feated in  the  Senate.  In  this  state  of  suspense  the  Administra- 
tion stumbled  on  until  the  end  of  the  year ;  then  Dr.  Eustis 
resigned  of  his  own  accord,  and  Mr.  Monroe  assumed  tempo- 
rarily the  duties  of  his  office,  as  he  easily  might,  since  the  war 
had  made  the  Department  of  State  a  sinecure.  Governor  Hamil- 
ton also  resigned  of  his  own  accord,  and  immediate  action  by 
the  President  thus  became  necessary. 


GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  18th  December,  1812. 

.  .  .  The  series  of  misfortunes  experienced  this  year  in  our 
military  land  operations  exceeds  all  anticipations  made  even  by 
those  who  had  least  confidence  in  our  inexperienced  officers  and 
undisciplined  men.  I  believe  that  General  Dearborn  has  done 
all  that  was  in  his  power.  The  conduct  of  Hull,  liensselaer, 
and  Smyth  cannot  be  accounted  for  on  any  rational  principle. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Eustis's  resignation  will  open  brighter 
prospects.  For,  although  those  three  disasters  cannot  with  jus- 
tice be  ascribed  to  him,  yet  his  incapacity  and  the  total  want  of 
confidence  in  him  were  felt  through  every  ramification  of  the 
public  service.  To  find  a  successor  qualified,  popular,  and  willing 
to  accept,  is  extremely  difficult. 

It  was  just  this  moment  that  Mr.  Josiah  Quincy,  hottest  of 
all  Federalists,  chose  for  his  once  celebrated  attack  on  the  Ad- 
ministration :  "  It  is  a  curious  fact,"  he  said,  in  his  speech  of 
5th  January,  1813,  "but  no  less  true  than  curious,  that  for  these 
twelve  years  past  the  whole  aifairs  of  this  country  have  been 
managed,  and  its  fortunes  reversed,  under  the  influence  of  a 
Cabinet  little  less  than  despotic,  composed,  to  all  efficient  pur- 
poses, of  two  Virginians  and  a  foreigner.  ...  I  might  have 
said,  perhaps  with  more  strict  propriety,  that  it  was  a  Cabinet 
composed  of  three  Virginians  and  a  foreigner,  because  once  in 
the  course  of  the  twelve  years  there  has  been  a  change  in  one 
of  the  characters.  ,  .  I  said  that  these  three  men  constituted 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  471 

to  all  efficient  purposes  the  whole  Cabinet.  This  also  is  noto- 
rious. It  is  true  that  during  this  period  other  individuals  have 
been  called  into  the  Cabinet ;  but  they  were  all  of  them  com- 
paratively minor  men,  such  as  had  no  great  weight  either  of 
personal  talents  or  of  personal  influence  to  support  them.  They 
were  kept  as  instruments  of  the  master  spirits ;  and  when  they 
failed  to  answer  the  purpose,  or  became  restive,  they  were  sacri- 
ficed and  provided  for ;  the  shades  were  made  to  play  upon  the 
curtain;  they  entered;  they  bowed  to  the  audience;  they  did 
what  they  were  bidden ;  they  said  what  was  set  down  for  them ; 
when  those  who  pulled  the  wires  saw  fit,  they  passed  away.  No 
man  knew  why  they  entered ;  no  man  knew  why  they  departed ; 
no  man  could  tell  whence  they  came;  no  man  asked  whither 
they  were  gone." 

In  this  description  there  was  truth  as  well  as  oratory;  but 
Mr.  Quincy  did  not  add  that  this  despotism  had  been  tempered 
by  faction  to  an  extent  which  had  left  in  it  very  little  of  the 
despotic.  Even  while  Mr.  Quincy  was  charging  the  myste- 
rious three  with  the  design  of  making  Mr.  Monroe  "general- 
issimo" in  order  to  perpetuate  their  power,  the  three  were  in 
a  quandary,  as  much  perplexed  as  any  of  their  neighbors,  and 
actually  deciding  to  accept  General  Armstrong  as  the  least  of 
their  evils.  Not  one  of  them  had  any  confidence  in  General 
Armstrong  ;  they  knew  him  to  be  no  friend  of  theirs ;  to  belong 
to  a  family — the  Clintons — which  had  for  twenty  years  or  there- 
abouts acted  without  reference  to  them;  one  of  whose  chiefs, 
George  Clinton,  had,  as  Vice-President,  given  infinite  annoy- 
ance to  the  Administration,  while  another,  De  "Witt  Clinton, 
had,  within  three  months,  run  a  mad  race  to  get  himself  elected 
President  by  the  Federalists  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Madison ; 
they  knew  that  Armstrong  had  been  through  life  a  master  of 
intrigue,  and  that  his  ambition  was  only  checked  by  his  indo- 
lence ;  but  they  knew  that  he  had  ability  and  that  he  had  loyally 
supported  the  government.  General  Armstrong,  therefore,  be- 
came Secretary  of  War,  while  the  Navy  Department  was  given 
to  William  Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  an  active  merchant  and 
politician,  who,  in  other  days,  had  served  as  lieutenant  under 
Commodore  Truxton. 


472  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1812. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  in  his  own  department  cares 
enough  to  occupy  all  his  energies.  When  Congress  met  in 
November,  1812,  the  House  was  still  less  disposed  to  support 
the  Secretary  than  it  had  been  in  the  spring.  Langdon  Cheves, 
of  South  Carolina,  was  now  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means.  The  Presidential  election  was  over  and  Mr.  Madi- 
son was  secure  in  his  seat,  but  the  House  had  less  appetite  for 
taxation  than  before ;  it  refused  even  to  support  the  Secretary  in 
other  money  measures.  The  first  trial  of  strength,  in  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  worsted,  came  in  an  embarrassing  form.  When  the 
British  government  on  June  23,  1812,  revoked  its  orders  in 
council,  the  declaration  of  war  being  then  unknown  in  England, 
great  quantities  of  British  merchandise  were  at  once  shipped  to 
America  on  the  faith  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  March  2, 1811; 
which  promised  a  renewal  of  intercourse  whenever  the  British 
orders  should  be  revoked.  Even  after  the  declaration  of  war 
became  known,  these  shipments  continued,  protected  by  British 
licenses  from  British  cruisers.  All  these  vessels  and  cargoes  were 
of  course  seized  on  arriving  in  American  ports.  The  next  step 
was  to  release  such  property  as  was  owned  in  good  faith  by 
Americans,  the  Treasury  taking  bonds  to  the  value  of  the  cargoes, 
and,  owing  to  the  great  rise  in  prices  consequent  on  the  war,  the 
owners  made  very  large  profits,  in  some  cases  even  to  the  whole 
amount  of  the  bonds.  Mr.  Gallatin,  unwilling  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  remitting  or  exacting  the  forfeitures,  referred 
the  subject  to  Congress,  and  in  doing  so  expressed  the  opinion 
that  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  a  reasonable  com- 
promise would  authorize  the  remission  of  one-half  the  forfeitures, 
due  to  the  collectors,  and  the  exaction  of  the  other  half,  or  its 
equivalent,  due  to  the  government.  The  amount  of  property 
involved  was  about  $40,000,000,  including  the  importers7  profit. 
Mr.  Gallatin's  proposition  would  have  assumed  a  forfeiture  to  the 
amount  of  about  $9,000,000.  The  regular  duties,  if  the  forfeit- 
ures were  wholly  remitted,  would  amount  to  about  $5,000,000. 

On  this  question  there  arose  a  sharp  battle  in  the  House,  and 
Mr.  Cheves  led  the  Federalists  in  a  vigorous  assault  upon  the 
Secretary.  Perhaps  this  attack  was  more  honest  and  less  spiteful 
than  the  attacks  of  Mr.  Giles,  but  it  was  hardly  less  mischievous : 


1812.  THE    TREASURY.      1801-1813.  473 

"  I  would  rather  see  the  objects  of  the  war  fail ;  I  would  rather 
see  the  seamen  of  the  country  impressed  on  the  ocean  and  our 
commerce  swept  from  its  bosom,  than  see  the  long  arm  of  the 
Treasury  indirectly  thrust  into  the  pocket  of  the  citizen  through 
the  medium  of  a  penal  law.  We  might  suffer  all  these  disasters 
and  our  civil  liberties  would  yet  be  safe.  That  principle  of  our 
government  would  still  be  preserved  which  subjects  the  purse  of 
the  citizen  to  no  authority  but  a  law  so  plain  that  he  who  runs 
may  read.  How  are  the  exigencies  of  the  government  for  the 
next  year  to  be  supplied  ?  That  portion  of  them  which  is  pro- 
vided is  rather  the  result  of  accident  than  forecast.  Is  the  de- 
ficiency to  be  derived  from  taxes  ?  No !  I  will  tell  gentlemen 
who  are  opposed  to  them,  for  their  comfort,  that  there  will  be  no 
taxes  imposed  for  the  next  year.  It  was  said  last  session  that 
you  would  have  time  to  lay  them  at  this  session,  but  I  then 
said  it  was  a  mistake.  You  now  find  this  to  be  the  fact.  By 
your  indecision  then,  when  the  country  was  convinced  they 
were  necessary,  you  have  set  the  minds  of  the  people  against 
taxes.  But  were  it  otherwise,  you  have  not  time  now  to  lay 
them  for  the  next  year." 

Jonathan  Roberts,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means,  led  the  debate  in  defence  of  Mr. 
Gallatin,  but  in  the  end  Mr.  Cheves,  aided  by  the  Federalists 
and  by  Calhoun,  Lowndes,  Macon,  and  other  very  honest  men, 
carried  his  point,  and  the  forfeitures  were  entirely  remitted,  by  a 
very  close  vote  of  63  to  61.  Mr.  Gallatin's  hold  even  on  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  was  now  lost. 

At  this  point  of  the  war,  within  four  months  of  its  declara- 
tion, the  Treasury  was  threatened  with  a  collapse  more  fatal  than 
that  which  had  overwhelmed  the  War  Department.  The  circu- 
lating capital  of  the  United  States  was  concentrated  in  the  large 
cities  chiefly  north  of  the  Potomac,  and  more  than  one-fourth  of 
this  capital  belonged  to  New  England.  Not  only  did  New  Eng- 
land lend  no  aid  to  the  Treasury,  but  her  whole  influence  was 
thrown  to  embarrass  it.  Of  loans  to  the  amount  of  $41,000,000 
paid  into  the  Treasury  during  the  war,  she  contributed  less 
than  three  millions.  This  was  not  all.  A  large  importation 
of  foreign  goods  into  the  Eastern  States,  and  an  extensive  trade 


474  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1812. 

in  British  government  bills  of  exchange,  caused  a  drain  of  specie 
through  New  England  to  Great  Britain.  The  specie  in  the  vaults 
of  the  Massachusetts  banks  rose  from  $  1,700,000  in  June,  1811, 
to  $3,900,000  in  June,  1812,  and  to  §7,300,000  in  June,  1814, 
all  of  which  was  lost  to  the  government  and  the  Treasury.  Even 
the  most  prejudiced  and  meanest  intelligence  could  now  under- 
stand why  the  destruction  of  the  United  States  Bank  threatened 
to  decide  the  fate  of  the  war  and  of  the  Union  itself.  The  mere 
property  in  the  bank,  important  as  this  was,  counted  for  compar- 
atively little  in  the  calculation,  although  seven  millions  of  foreign 
capital,  invested  in  its  stock,  were  lost  to  the  country  by  its  disso- 
lution and  had  been  remitted  to  Europe  shortly  before  the  war. 
This  was  the  "  British  gold77  of  which  Mr.  Giles  and  Mr.  Duane 
were  so  jealous,  and  which,  had  it  been  allowed  to  remain,  would 
have  probably  doubled  the  resources  of  the  government  in  fight- 
ing British  armies  and  navies,  for,  setting  aside  the  useless  wealth 
of  New  England,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  country  contained 
$7,000,000  in  specie  in  1812  as  the  basis  of  its  entire  currency 
system.  This,  however,  was  not  the  most  serious  loss.  The  State 
banks,  with  a  capital  of  something  more  than  §40,000,000,  took 
up  the  paper  previously  discounted  by  the  United  States  Bank,  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  $15,000,000.  Then  came  the  war,  and 
Mr.  Gallatin  applied  every  possible  inducement  to  borrow  for 
government  the  means  of  the  State  banks.  Those  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  responded  to  the  call ;  they  sub- 
scribed directly  to  the  loans,  and  they  enlarged  their  discounts  to 
such  of  their  customers  as  subscribed ;  in  doing  so  they  necessarily 
exceeded  their  resources  and  were  obliged  to  enlarge  their  issues 
of  bank  paper.  Meanwhile,  in  order  to  fill  the  chasm  made  by  the 
dissolution  of  the  United  States  Bank,  new  banks  were  created  in 
the  States;  a  bank  mania  broke  out;  in  four  years  one  hundred 
and  twenty  new  banks  were  chartered,  doubling  the  banking  cap- 
ital at  a  time  when  commerce  was  annihilated  and  banks  were  less 
needed  than  ever.  They  created  no  new  capital  and  withdrew 
what  would  otherwise  have  been  lent  to  the  government.  Gov- 
ernor Snyder,  in  Pennsylvania,  was  forced  to  veto  a  bill  making 
a  wholesale  creation  of  new  banks.  Finally,  since,  in  the  absence 
of  a  national  bank,  the  government  had  no  means  of  controlling 


1812.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  475 

the  issues,  these  rapidly  increased  to  an  amount  greatly  in  excess 
of  the  requirements,  until  a  suspension  of  specie  payments  and 
hopeless  confusion  of  the  currency  became  inevitable.  This  took 
place  in  1814,  and  it  was  Mr.  Gallatin's  opinion,  as  it  must  be 
the  opinion  of  every  financier,  that  if  the  United  States  Bank  had 
been  in  existence  the  suspension  might  have  been  delayed  for  a 
considerable  time,  while  the  terrible  disorganization  of  the  whole 
system  of  internal  exchanges,  by  which  the  government  was  very 
nearly  brought  to  a  stand-still,  need  not  have  taken  place  at  all.1 
Had  Congress  been  more  tractable,  something  might  perhaps 
have  been  done  to  alleviate  the  situation ;  but  the  Senate  was 
utterly  beyond  control,  and  the  House  was  becoming  almost 
equally  perverse.  The  expedient  adopted  by  government  fifty 
years  later  in  the  face  of  similar  difficulties,  even  had  it  been 
now  thought  of,  would  have  had  little  chance  of  general  accept- 
ance. Mr.  Gallatin  could  get  no  action  from  Congress.  His 
tax  bills  of  the  preceding  session  had  been  postponed  on  the 
understanding  that  they  should  be  adopted  before  the  1st  Janu- 
ary, 1813 ;  but,  meanwhile,  experience  proved  that  these  bills, 
violent  as  they  had  at  first  been  thought,  were  quite  unequal  to 
the  occasion,  and  that  much  stronger  measures  were  needed. 
The  five  millions  which  had  luckily  fallen  in,  owing  to  the 
enormous  British  shipments  after  war  was  declared,  helped  to 
tide  the  Treasury  over  its  immediate  difficulties,  but  it  helped 
also  to  encourage  the  inaction  of  Congress.  Mr.  Cheves  did  not 
contribute  to  smooth  the  path  of  the  Treasury.  He  wished 
to  force  Congress  to  raise  revenue  by  abandoning  the  non-im- 
portation system,  which  was  still  maintained  as  a  coercive  meas- 
ure against  Great  Britain ;  this  was  also  Mr.  Gallatin's  wish, 
but  Congress  refused  its  consent.  Meanwhile,  the  tax  bills  were 
untouched.  Month  after  month  passed,  and  still  nothing  was 
done  until  the  session  closed  on  March  3,  1813,  when,  since  it 
was  universally  conceded  that  these  bills  must  be  taken  up,  an 
extra  session  in  May  for  this  express  purpose  became  necessary. 
All  Congress  would  do,  meanwhile,  was  to  authorize  loans,  the 
favorite  resource  of  incompetent  financiers. 

1  See  Gallatin's  Writings,  iii.  283,  ff. 


476  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1812. 

Many  years  later,  Mr.  Jonathan  Roberts,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  this  Congress,  writing  to  Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  garru- 
lity of  age,  recalled  his  recollections  of  the  war.  The  letter  is 
dated  December  17,  1847,  and  seems  to  have  been  merely  a 
spontaneous  expression  of  old  feelings.  "  When  it  was  first  my 
fortune  to  have  met  you,"  he  wrote,  "  I  found  you  to  be  a  ripe 
and  experienced  statesman,  possessed  of  the  affectionate  confidence 
of  the  most  eminent  and  wisest  among  your  compeers.  You 
were  only  about  ten  years  my  senior,  but  immeasurably  advanced 
above  me  in  capacity  for  usefulness  for  that  small  disparity  in 
years.  In  a  very  early  period  of  our  intercourse  you  gave  me 
proofs  of  your  confidence,  of  which  I  felt  myself  not  unworthy, 
but  which  I  had  not  been  taught  to  look  for  from  one  who  had 
so  long  mixed  in  state  affairs.  .  .  .  While  I  witnessed  an  admi- 
ration of  your  character  among  enlightened  and  liberal  minds, 
abundant  evidences  were  not  wanting  of  envy,  jealousy,  and  even 
hatred.  My  sympathies  were  enlisted  in  your  favor,  and  my 
indignation  was  roused  in  witnessing  ebullitions  of  these  detest- 
able passions.  You  stood  the  friend  of  peace  in  the  crisis  pend- 
ing the  last  war, — an  attitude  that  called  for  the  exercise  of 
higher  moral  nerve  than  the  opposite  position;  while  our 
friends  Madison  and  Macon,  feeling  with  you,  each  in  your 
places,  fulfilled  every  duty  with  the  honest  purpose  to  seek  for 
peace  as  the  object  they  most  desired. 

"You  can  hardly  fail  to  remember  how  Mr.  Cheves  acted 
towards  you  as  chairman  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  how  Colonel 
Johnson  baffled  every  effort  to  report  the  tax  bills.  These  men, 
too,  gave  their  votes  for  an  extravagant  loan  bill,  which  probably 
[no]  man  could  have  raised,  even  on  the  predicate  of  adequate 
taxes.  At  your  suggestion  I  hastened  to  visit  Governor  Snyder, 
to  give  him  your  views  of  what  would  be  the  effect  of  the  meas- 
ure of  the  forty-one  new  banks  on  the  prospects  of  raising  loans. 
On  meeting  him  I  found  he  had  negatived  the  bank  bill,  and  it 
only  remained  for  me  to  leave  with  him  the  views  you  had 
charged  me  with." 

Mr.  Gallatin's  annual  report  in  November,  1812,  had  been 
reticent  in  tone,  perhaps  because'  he  was  unwilling  to  discourage, 
and  yet  had  nothing  encouraging  to  say.  He  simply  gave  the 


1813.  THE     TKEASUEY.     1801-1813.  477 

condition  of  the  Treasury  and  announced  that  a  loan  of  twenty 
millions  would  be  required.  Congress  authorized  a  loan  of  six- 
teen millions  and  the  issue  of  five  millions  in  Treasury  notes ;  it 
would  do  no  more ;  every  other  plan  or  suggestion  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  or  of  the  President  was  defeated  or  ignored. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  Congress  adjourned  on  the  4th 
March,  1813.  Mr.  Gallatin  then  opened  his  loan.  The  Treas- 
ury was  nearly  exhausted  ;  so  nearly  that  on  the  1st  April  it  was 
absolutely  empty,  and  must  have  ceased  to  meet  the  requisitions 
of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments ;  the  Federalists  were  in 
high  hope  that  the  loan  would  fail  and  government  fall  to 
pieces,  and  they  made  the  most  active  efforts  to  force  this  result. 
The  crisis  was  serious,  and  it  was  in  this  emergency  that  Mr. 
John  Jacob  Astor  rendered  to  Mr.  Gallatin  and  to  the  country 
essential  aid;  by  his  assistance  Mr.  Gallatin  was  enabled  to 
make  his  terms  with  Mr.  Parish  and  Mr.  Girard,  and  thus  three 
foreigners  by  birth,  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  being  of  foreign  birth, 
saved  the  United  Statas  government  for  the  time  from  bank- 
ruptcy, and  perhaps  from  evils  far  more  fatal ;  so,  at  least,  the 
Federalists  thought,  and  they  long  vented  their  wrath  against 
these  foreigners,  as  they  called  them,  for  an  act  which  was 
certainly  a  somewhat  bitter  satire  upon  American  patriotism. 

Just  at  this  moment  the  Russian  minister,  Daschkoff,  commu- 
nicated to  the  Secretary  of  State  an  offer  of  mediation  on  the 
part  of  the  Emperor".  His  note  bore  date  the  8th  March,  and 
in  the  situation  of  our  government  not  only  towards  that  of 
Russia,  but  towards  the  peace  party  at  home,  it  had  the  gravest 
significance.  There  could  be  no  hesitation  in  accepting  the 
offered  mediation,  but  there  might  be  a  question  whether  it  were 
best  to  accept  it  before  hearing  from  England.  To  show  over- 
eagerness  for  peace  would  weaken  our  position  abroad ;  but  the 
position  abroad  was  of  less  consequence  than  union  at  home,  and 
sluggishness  in  meeting  peace  propositions  would  stimulate  every 
domestic  faction.  The  President  decided  not  to  wait,  but  to  send 
commissioners  at  once.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  now,  by  the  end  of 
March,  disposed  of  his  loan;  he  could  easily  arrange  the  affairs 
of  his  Department  so  as  to  admit  of  his  absence,  and  he  requested 
the  President  to  let  him  go  to  Russia. 


478  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIK  1813. 

So  many  and  so  complicated  are  the  influences  which  must 
have  acted  upon  Mr.  Gallatin's  mind  to  produce  this  decision, 
that  they  are  hardly  to  be  set  forth  with  any  certainty  of  meas- 
uring their  precise  relative  weight ;  yet  there  can  be  little  possi- 
bility of  error  in  assuming,  as  the  most  powerful,  the  conviction 
which  had  long  weighed  upon  his  mind  that  his  usefulness  in 
his  present  position  was  exhausted,  and  that  Congress  would  do 
better,  at  least  for  a  time,  without  him.  So  accustomed  had 
Congress  become  to  throwing  upon  him  the  burden  and  the 
blame  of  every  measure,  that  nothing  short  of  his  retirement 
would  break  the  spell  which  bound  them,  and  so  ineradicable 
were  the  enmities  which  neutralized  all  his  efforts,  that  only  his 
self-effacement  could  extinguish  them.  This  he  had  long  known, 
but  the  President's  wishes  had  tied  his  hands.  He  could  not 
desert  the  President  or  the  country  if  his  services  were  needed ; 
but  the  situation  had  now  become  such  as  to  create  a  serious 
doubt  whether  his  services  were  not  really  more  necessary 
abroad  than  at  home.  A  year  not  yet  quite  elapsed  had  already 
brought  the  country  into  a  position  grave  in  the  extreme;  financial 
collapse  and  domestic  treason  were  becoming  mere  questions  of 
time ;  another  campaign  was  inevitable,  and  it  might  fairly  be 
reckoned  that,  if  this  were  not  successful,  success  was  out  of  our 
power ;  diplomacy,  therefore,  had  become  the  most  important 
point  of  action  next  to  service  in  the  field,  and  in  diplomacy 
Mr.  Gallatin  naturally  felt  that  he  had  a  brilliant  future  before 
him.  Here  he  would  escape  from  all  his  old  difficulties  and 
enmities;  to  Europe  the  Smiths,  Duanes,  Gileses,  and  Leibs 
would  hardly  care  to  follow  him.  The  past  was  a  failure ;  he 
might  fling  it  away,  and  still  rescue  his  country  and  himself  by 
this  change  of  career. 

Mr.  Gallatin  grew  more  and  more  silent  with  age  and  ex- 
perience ;  he  never  complained,  and  never  said  what  was  calcu- 
lated to  wound ;  but  he  had  now  stood  for  five  years  in  a  position 
inconsistent  with  his  principles  and  grating  to  his  feelings.  In 
deciding  to  go  to  St.  Petersburg  he  was  well  aware  that  he 
would  be  charged  with  having  deserted  his  post,  and  charged  by 
the  same  men  who  for  four  years  had  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  perform  the  duties  of  that  post,  and  who  still  presented  an 


1813.  THE    TKEASUEY.      1801-1813.  479 

impenetrable  barrier  to  every  attempt  on  his  part  at  efficient 
administration.  It  is  probably  true  that  Mr.  Gallatin  himself 
hoped  not  to  return  to  the  Treasury ;  if  he  returned  at  all,  he 
would  have  preferred  the  dignified  ease  of  the  State  Department; 
but  these  points  he  did  not  and  would  not  attempt  to  settle  in 
advance ;  he  left  it  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Madison  to 
decide  for  the  public  interest  what  disposition  to  make  of  his 
services.  There  were  two  obvious  contingencies;  the  one,  in 
case  the  Senate  should  insist  upon  his  resignation  as  Secretary, 
and,  to  obtain  this,  reject  his  nomination  as  commissioner ;  the 
other,  the  case  of  diplomatic  delays  that  might  prevent  his 
return  and  compel  the  President  to  fill  his  vacant  place :  "  Mr. 
Bayard  asked  me,"  wrote  Mr.  Dallas  in  the  following  Feb- 
ruary, "whether  you  had  reflected  upon  the  first  event  as  a 
probable  one,  and  you  merely  smiled  when  I  repeated  his 
question  to  you."  Mr.  Dallas  seems  to  have  felt  a  little  irri- 
tation at  this  reticence,  but  a  sadder  smile  than  Gallatin's 
can  hardly  be  imagined  even  among  the  Administration  in 
these  trying  times,  although  it  may  have  been  brightened  by 
a  touch  of  humor  at  the  thought  how  readily  the  Senate 
would  fall  into  that  agreeable  occupation,  and  how  willingly 
he  would  throw  upon  them  that  responsibility.  In  any  case 
it  was  not  for  him  to  direct  the  President's  action ;  Mr.  Madi- 
son himself  could  alone  be  the  judge  of  what  the  occasion 
required. 

Of  course  it  was  fully  in  Mr.  Madison's  power  to  retain  Mr. 
Gallatin  at  his  post.  He  too  seems,  however,  to  have  been  im- 
pressed with  the  advantages  of  sending  him  to  Russia,  and  the 
act  was  carefully  considered  and  was  his  own.  In  the  case  of 
negotiations  taking  place,  America  afforded  no  negotiator  com- 
parable to  Gallatin ;  if  he  were  willing  to  go,  his  presence  would 
be  invaluable. 

With  Mr.  Gallatin  it  was  at  last  decided  to  associate  Mr. 
Bayard,  of  Delaware,  so  that  the  mission  finally  consisted  of 
Gallatin,  J.  Q.  Adams,  then  Minister  to  St.  Petersburg,  and 
James  A.  Bayard.  Of  course  the  most  rapid  action  was  neces- 
sary ;  Mr.  Bayard's  appointment  was  only  decided  on  the  5th 
April,  and  Mr.  Monroe  then  expected  the  vessel  to  sail  with  Mr. 


480  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1813. 

Gallatin  within  a  fortnight.  Fortunately,  the  necessary  business 
of  the  Treasury  was  well  in  hand.  On  the  17th  April,  Mr. 
Gallatin  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  of  the 
Navy,  giving  a  general  view  of  the  fiscal  situation  for  the  year 
and  regulating  the  drafts  which  these  two  Departments  might 
make  upon  the  Treasury,  to  the  amount,  namely,  of  $17,820,000, 
to  January  1,  1814.  The  tax  bills  were  ready  for  Congress 
to  act  upon ;  a  draft  for  a  new  bank  charter  was  prepared  and 
left  behind ;  every  contingency,  as  far  as  possible,  was  provided 
for.  Mrs.  Gallatin  and  the  younger  children  were  to  pass  their 
summer  as  usual  in  New  York,  while  the  eldest  son,  James, 
accompanied  his  father  as  private  secretary. 

Before  closing  this  part  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  history  and  turning 
to  the  ne\v  career  which  was  to  occupy  nearly  all  his  thoughts 
for  sixteen  years  to  come,  the  results  of  his  sudden  departure 
upon  Congress  and  upon  the  Treasury  shall  be  briefly  told. 
Another  extract  from  the  letter  of  Jonathan  Roberts  already 
quoted  will  furnish  an  idea  of  the  immediate  effect  of  Mr.  Gal 
latin's  absence.  He  sailed  on  May  9,  and  Congress  met  on  May 
23.  Mr.  Roberts  proceeds : 

"  At  the  called  session  in  May  following  you  had  left  the  seat 
of  government  on  the  mission  of  peace.  I  soon  found,  however, 
that  you  left  nothing  undone  that  made  your  presence  necessary 
to  forward  the  vital  measure  of  adequate  taxation.  You  promptly 
responded  to  a  call  early  made  for  a  scheme  of  revenue  that  you 
deemed  to  embrace  every  item  that  could  justify  a  levy  and  col- 
lection. This  was  abundantly  confirmed  by  Mr.  Eppes's  subse- 
quent trial  of  watch-tax,  &c.  Mr.  E.  was  now  made  chairman 
of  Ways  and  Means,  but  could  not  attend  the  committee  from  ill 
health,  which  both  Dr.  Bibb  and  myself  thought  fortunate  for  the 
early  attainment  of  the  object  of  the  session.  To  almost  every 
item  in  your  reported  list  objections  were  felt  in  the  committee. 
Bibb  himself  disrelished  a  direct  tax,  but  could  not  deny  its  in- 
dispensable necessity.  It  was  soon  found  there  was  no  alterna- 
tive. No  new  project  could  be  devised,  and  you  were  not  present 
to  be  worried  by  calls  for  a  modification.  The  bills  were  re- 
ported ;  no  opening  speech  was  made,  and  no  debate  provoked. 
Dr.  Bibb  conducted  the  deliberations  with  successful  address, 


1813  THE    TKEASUKT.     1801-1813.  481 

but  I  then  felt  that  your  absence  placed  the  tourniquet  on  Con- 
gress. Having  finished  your  duties  at  home,  you  accepted  the 
place  in  which  you  hoped  to  be  most  useful.  .  .  .  Your  real 
friends  felt  the  vacancy  made  by  your  absence,  and  hoped  for 
and  would  have  hailed  your  return  to  our  home  councils  as  a 
joyful  event.  Your  place  never  has  been,  nor,  I  believe,  never 
will  be  filled." 

Before  his  departure  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  three  or  four  letters, 
which  contain  parting  suggestions  that,  for  his  calm  temper,  ex- 
press unusual  feeling.  One  of  these  was  to  Mr.  Monroe,  dated 
the  day  before  he  sailed,  to  dissuade  him  from  pushing  the  mili- 
tary occupation  of  Florida,  for  fear  of  a  war  with  Spain,  that 
would  still  more  exasperate  the  Northern  States.  "You  will 
pardon  the  freedom  with  which,  on  the  eve  of  parting  with  you, 
I  speak  on  this  subject.  It  is  intended  as  a  general  caution  which 
I  think  important,  because  I  know  and  see  every  day  the  extent 
of  geographical  feeling  and  the  necessity  of  prudence,  if  we  mean 
to  preserve  and  invigorate  the  Union." 

The  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  James  W.  Nicholson,  explains 
the  motives  that  influenced  him,  at  least  in  part.  General  Arm- 
strong had  been  at  his  old  practices  during  the  short  three 
months  he  had  controlled  the  War  Department.  The  National 
Intelligencer  for  April  16  had  contained  the  announcement  that 
William  Duane  was  appointed  Adjutant-General  in  the  United 
States  army.  All  the  love  and  esteem  which  Mr.  Gallatin  felt 
then  and  ever  continued  to  feel  for  Mr.  Madison  could  not  over- 
come the  disgust  with  which  this  last  blow  was  received. 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  5,  1813. 

DEAK  FRIEND, —  .  .  .  The  newspapers  will  have  informed 
you  of  my  mission  to  Russia.  Whether  we  will  succeed  or  not 
depends  on  circumstances  not  under  any  man's  control.  But  on 
mature  reflection,  having  provided  all  the  funds  for  the  service 
of  this  year,  and  having  nothing  to  do  but  current  business 
during  the  remainder,  I  have-believed  that  I  could  be  nowhere 

31 


482  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1813. 

more  usefully  employed  than  in  this  negotiation.  I  hope  that 
my  absence  will  be  very  short,  and  leave  all  my  family  behind, 
James  excepted. 

Ever  yours. 

GALLATIN   TO   JAMES   W.  NICHOLSON. 

PHILADELPHIA,  5th  May,  1813. 

DEAK  SIR, — You  have  heard  by  the  papers  of  my  intended 
mission  to  Russia ;  but  I  have  delayed  to  the  last  moment  writ- 
ing to  you.  Having  provided  all  the  funds  for  this  year's  service, 
and  none  but  current  business  to  attend  to  during  its  remainder, 
I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  I  could  in  no  other  manner  be  more 
usefully  employed  for  the  present  than  on  the  negotiation  of  a 
peace.  Peace,  at  all  times  desirable,  is  much  more  so  for  two 
reasons:  1.  The  great  incapacity  for  conducting  the  war,  which 
is  thereby  much  less  efficient  and  infinitely  more  expensive  than 
it  ought  to  have  been.  2.  The  want  of  union,  or  rather  open 
hostility  to  the  war  and  to  the  Union,  which,  however  disgrace- 
ful to  the  parties  concerned,  and  to  the  national  character,  is  not 
less  formidable  and  in  its  consequences  of  the  most  dangerous 
tendency.  But  in  addition  to  those  considerations  I  believe  that 
the  present  opportunity  affords  a  better  chance  to  make  an  honor- 
able peace  than  we  have  any  right  hereafter  to  expect,  Eng- 
land must  be  desirous  at  this  critical  moment  to  have  it  in  her 
power  to  apply  her  whole  force  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and 
the  mediation  of  Russia  saves  her  pride ;  whilst  both  the  per- 
sonal feelings  of  the  sovereign,  a  common  interest  on  all  neutral 
questions,  and  other  considerations  of  general  policy,  give  us  the 
best  pledge  that  a  nation  can  obtain  that  the  mediator  will  sup- 
port the  cause  of  justice  and  of  the  law  of  nations.  Finally, 
provided  we  can  obtain  security  with  respect  to  impressments, 
peace  will  give  us  everything  we  want.  Taught  by  experience, 
we  will  apply  a  part  of  our  resources  to  such  naval  preparations 
and  organization  of  the  public  force  as  will  within  less  than  five 
years  place  us  in  a  commanding  situation.  This  we  cannot  effect 
pending  the  war,  and  if  this  continues  any  length  of  time  it  will 
leave  the  United  States  so  exhausted  that  they  will  not  effect  the 
same  objects  within  the  same  period  nor  without  oppressive  taxa- 


1813.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  483 

tion.  To  keep  down  the  Tory  faction  at  home  and  ultimately  to 
secure  in  an  effectual  manner  our  national  rights  against  Eng- 
land, peace  is  equally  necessary.  The  Essex- Junto  men  and 
other  high-toned  Federalists  of  course  fear  it  more  than  any 
other  event,  as  they  are  well  aware  that  a  continuation  of  the  war 
must  necessarily  place  government  in  their  hands  before  the  end 
of  four  years. 

Whether,  however,  we  will  succeed  in  making  peace  is  another 
question,  which  depends  on  events  not  under  our  control.  So 
far  as  relates  to  myself,  I  am  well  aware  that  my  going  to  Russia 
will  most  probably  terminate  in  the  appointment  of  another 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  in  my  returning  to  private  life. 
If  I  shall  have  succeeded  in  making  peace,  I  will  be  perfectly 
satisfied;  and,  at  all  events,  I  will  acknowledge  to  you  that 
Duane's  last  appointment  has  disgusted  me  so  far  as  to  make  me 
desirous  of  not  being  any  longer  associated  with  those  who  have 
appointed  him.  .  .  . 

The  departure  of  Mr.  Gallatin  to  Europe  did  not,  however,  at 
once  close  his  career  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  it  was  not 
until  a  year  later,  on  the  9th  February,  1814,  that  he  ceased  to 
hold  that  office.  Meanwhile,  the  Senate  had  exercised  in  its  full 
extent  that  unrestrained  liberty  of  personal  attack  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  so  contemptuously  left  to  them.  By  a  vote  of  20 
to  14  they  rejected  his  nomination  to  Russia,  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  inconsistent  with  his  station  in  the  Treasury.  Their  true 
motive  is  not  a  matter  of  much  importance ;  the  oldest  and  wisest 
politicians  are  most  apt  to  warn  their  younger  associates  not  to 
search  for  the  motives  of  public  men,  and  this  Christian  precept 
rests  on  the  general  fact  that  human  nature  often,  and  nowhere 
oftener  than  in  politics,  opens  into  abysses  of  baseness  only  to  be 
measured  by  baseness  equally  profound.  The  doctrine  that  the 
post  of  Secretary  was  incompatible  with  that  of  treaty  commis- 
sioner was  certainly  new  and  astonishing  as  coming  from  a  body 
which  had  twice  confirmed  the  nomination  of  the  Chief  Justice 
to  an  identical  situation ;  but,  apart  from  its  inconsistency,  the 
new  rule  was  wise  and  the  result  good.  Perhaps,  however,  Sen- 
ators would  have  shown  more  dignity  in  not  proclaiming  quite 


484  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1813. 

so  loudly  their  eagerness  to  confirm  Mr.  Gallatin  if  be  could  be 
forced  to  leave  the  Treasury. 

The  following  letters  tell  the  story  in  all  its  nakedness : 


MONROE   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  June  28,  1813. 

DEAR  SIR, — From  the  date  of  my  last  letter  to  you,  the 
President  has  been  ill  of  a  bilious  fever,  of  that  kind  called 
the  remittent.  It  has  perhaps  never  left  him,  even  for  an  hour, 
and  occasionally  the  symptoms  have  been  unfavorable.  This  is, 
I  think,  the  fifteenth  day.  Elgey,  of  this  place,  and  Shoaff,  of 
Annapolis,  with  Dr.  Tucker,  attend  him.  They  think  he  will 
recover.  The  first  mentioned  I  have  just  seen,  who  reports  that 
he  had  a  good  night,  and  is  in  a  state  to  take  the  bark,  which, 
indeed,  he  has  done  on  his  best  day  for  nearly  a  week.  I  shall 
see  him  before  I  seal  this,  and  note  any  change,  should  there  be 
any,  from  the  above  statement. 

The  Federalists,  aided  by  the  malcontents,  have  done  and  are 
doing  all  the  mischief  they  can.  The  nominations  to  Russia 
and  Sweden  (the  latter  made  on  an  intimation  that  the  Crown 
Prince  would  contribute  his  good  offices  to  promote  peace  on  fair 
conditions)  they  have  embarrassed  to  the  utmost  of  their  power. 
The  active  partisans  are  King,  Giles,  and  (as  respects  the  first 
nomination)  Smith.  Leib,  German,  and  Gilman  are  habitually 
in  that  interest,  active,  but  useful  to  their  party  by  their  votes 
only.  The  two  members  from  Louisiana,  Gailliard,  Stone,  An- 
derson, and  Bledsoe  are  added  to  that  corps  on  these  questions. 
They  have  carried  a  vote,  20  to  14,  that  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Gallatin  to  the  Russian  mission  is  incompatible  with  his 
station  in  the  Treasury,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  commu- 
nicate the  resolution  to  the  President.  They  have  appointed 
another  committee  to  confer  with  him  on  the  nomination  to 
Sweden.  The  object  is  to  usurp  the  executive  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  faction  in  the  Senate.  To  this  several  mentioned 
are  not  parties,  particularly  the  four  last.  A  committee  of  the 
Senate  ought  to  confer  with  a  committee  of  the  President  through 
a  head  of  a  Department,  and  not  with  the  Chief  Magistrate;  for 


1813.  THE    TREASURY.     1801-1813.  435 

in  the  latter  case  a  committee  of  that  House  is  equal  to  the 
Executive.  To  break  this  measure,  and  relieve  the  President 
from  the  pressure,  at  a  time  when  so  little  able  to  bear  it,  indeed 
when  no  pressure  whatever  should  be  made  on  him,  I  wrote  the 
committee  on  the  nomination  to  Sweden,  that  I  was  instructed 
by  him  to  meet  them,  to  yield  all  the  information  they  might 
desire  of  the  Executive.  They  declined  the  interview.  I  had 
intended  to  pursue  the  same  course  respecting  the  other  nomi- 
nation had  I  succeeded  in  this.  Failing,  I  have  declined.  The 
result  is  withheld  from  the  President.  These  men  have  begun 
to  make  calculations  and  plans  founded  on  the  presumed  death 
of  the  President  and  Vice-President,  and  it  has  been  suggested 
to  me  that  Giles  is  thought  of  to  take  the  place  of  President  of 
the  Senate  as  soon  as  the  Vice-President  withdraws. 

General  Dearborn  is  dangerously  ill,  and  General  Lewis 
doing  little.  Hampton  has  gone  on  to  that  quarter,  but  I  fear 
an  inactive  command.  General  Wilkinson  is  expected  soon, 
but  I  do  not  know  what  station  will  be  assigned  him.  The 
idea  of  a  commander-in-chief  is  in  circulation,  proceeding  from 
the  War  Department,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe.  If  so,  it  will 
probably  take  a  more  decisive  form  when  things  are  prepared 
for  it.  A  security  for  his,  the  Secretary's,  advancement  to  that 
station  is,  I  presume,  the  preparation  desired. 

Your  friend. 

I  have  seen  the  President,  and  found  him  in  the  state  repre- 
sented by  Dr.  Elgey. 

THE  SECRETARY   OF   STATE   TO   THE  AMERICAN  COMMISSIONERS. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  5th  August,  1813. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  am  very  sorry  to  be  under  the  necessity  of 
communicating  to  you  an  event  of  which  there  was  no  anticipa- 
tion when  you  left  the  United  States.  The  event  to  which  I 
allude  is  the  rejection  by  the  Senate  of  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Gallatin,  on  the  idea  that  his  mission  to  Russia  was  incompatible 
with  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  After  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Jay,  when  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  by 


486  LITE      OF     ALBEKT     GALL  A  TIN.  1813. 

President  Washington,  and  of  Mr.  Ellsworth,  when  holding  the 
same  office,  by  President  Adams,  by  which  a  member  of  a  sepa- 
rate branch  of  the  government  was  brought  into  an  office  under 
the  Executive,  and-  after  the  sanction  given  in  practice  as  well  as 
by  law  to  the  appointment  of  persons  during  the  absence  of  a 
head  of  a  Department  to  perform  its  duties,  it  was  presumed  that 
there  would  not  be  any  serious  or  substantial  objection  to  the 
employment  in  a  similar  service,  for  a  short  term  and  especial 
occasion,  of  a  member  of  the  Administration  itself.  Although 
this  nomination  was  opposed  in  the  Senate  as  soon  as  it  was 
acted  on,  yet  it  was  not  believed  that  it  would  be  rejected  until 
the  vote  was  taken.  At  an  early  stage  the  President  was  called 
on  by  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  to  state  whether  Mr.  Gallatin 
retained  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and,  in  case  he 
did,  who  performed  the  duties  of  that  Department  in  his  absence. 
The  President  replied  that  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  not  vacated  by  Mr.  Gallatin's  appointment  to  Russia,  and 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  performed  its  duties  in  his,  Mr. 
Gallatin's,  absence.  After  this  reply,  which  was  given  in  con- 
formity with  the  President's  own  views  of  the  subject,  and  with 
those  of  Mr.  Gallatin  when  he  left  the  United  States,  it  was  im- 
possible for  the  President,  without  departing  from  his  ideas  of 
propriety  in  both  respects,  to  have  removed  Mr.  Gallatin  from 
the  Treasury  to  secure  the  confirmation  of  his  nomination  to 
Russia.  It  would  have  been  still  more  improper  to  have  taken 
that  step  after  the  rejection  of  the  nomination.  The  President 
resolved,  therefore,  to  leave  the  mission  on  the  footing  on  which 
it  was  placed  by  the  vote  of  the  Senate  by  which  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Bayard  was  confirmed.  Whatever  has 
been  done  jointly  under  the  commission  given  to  the  three  com- 
missioners by  the  President  when  you  left  the  United  States  in 
compliance  with  your  instructions,  will  not  be  affected  by  this 
event. 

MONROE   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  6th  August,  1813 

DEAR  SIR, — To  the  official  communications  which  you  will 
receive  with  this  I  have  little  to  add.     Indeed,  as  I  know  that 


1813.  THE    TREASURY.      1801-1813.  437 

the  President  intends  to  communicate  to  you  in  a  private  letter  all 
the  details  which  could  not  be  included  in  a  public  one,  I  should 
not  write  you  this  except  that  I  could  not  permit  Mr.  Wyer  to  sail 
without  bearing  this  testimony  of  niy  good  wishes  towards  you. 

The  Senate  has  got  into  a  strange  and  most  embarrassing  situa- 
tion, of  which  the  rejection  of  your  nomination  and  of  that  of 
Mr.  Russell  are  proofs ;  many  others  were  afforded  during  the 
session.  The  attempt  to  control  the  President,  or  at  least  to  in- 
fluence his  conduct  by  a  committee  of  the  Senate  authorized  to 
confer  with  him,-  thereby  placing  a  committee  on  a  footing  with 
the  Chief  Magistrate  and  without  limitation  as  to  what  it  might 
say  or  demand,  was  a  very  extraordinary  measure.  It  was  the 
more  embarrassing  as  the  occurrence  took  place  at  a  time  when 
the  President  was  confined  with  a  bilious  fever  which  endangered 
his  life.  The  pressure  gave  him,  as  you  will  readily  conceive, 
the  greatest  concern,  more  particularly  the  rejection  of  your  nom- 
ination and  the  question  which  grew  out  of  it,  your  removal  from 
the  Treasury  to  secure  your  confirmation  in  the  mission  to  Russia. 
Among  the  objections  to  that  step,  the  sentiments  of  those  friends 
who  supported  your  nomination  were  entitled  to  and  had  great 
weight.  They  thought  that  your  removal  from  the  Treasury 
would  operate  as  a  sanction  to  the  conduct  of  your  opponents  and 
a  censure  on  themselves.  Other  objections  were  strong,  but  this 
was  conclusive. 

I  presume  that  the  business  on  which  you  and  Mr.  Bayard  left 
this  country  is  settled  by  this  time,  or  will  be  before  you  receive 
this  letter.  If  Great  Britain  accepted  the  mediation  with  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  make  peace,  the  treaty  would  have  been  soon  con- 
cluded. If  she  rejected  it,  a  very  short  time  would  have  enabled 
you  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  Russia.  So  that  in 
either  event  we  expect  soon  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  here. 
With  great  respect  and  esteem,  I  am,  &c. 


MRS.  MADISON   TO   MRS.  GALLATIN. 

29th  July,  1813. 

.  .  .  You  have  heard  no  doubt  of  the  illness  of  my  husband, 
but  can  have  no  idea  of  its  extent  and  the  despair  in  which  I 


488  LIFE     OP    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1813. 

attended  his  bed  for  nearly  five  weeks.  Even  now  I  watch  over 
him  as  I  would  an  infant,  so  precarious  is  his  convalescence. 
Added  to  this  are  the  disappointments  and  vexations  heaped 
upon  him  by  party  spirit.  Nothing,  however,  has  borne  so  hard 
as  the  conduct  of  the  Senate  in  regard  to  Mr.  Gallatin.  Mr. 
Astor  will  tell  you  many  particulars  that  I  ought  not  to  write,  of 
the  desertion  of  some  whose  support  we  had  a  right  to  expect, 
and  of  the  manoeuvring  of  others  always  hostile  to  superior  merit. 
We  console  ourselves  with  the  hope  of  its  terminating  both  in 
the  public  good  and  Mr.  Gallatin's  honorable  triumph.  .  .  . 


A.  J.  DALLAS   TO   MRS.  GALLATIN. 

22d  July,  1813. 

MY  DEAR  MADAM, — Our  friend  Mr.  Macon  has  just  written 
to  me  that  Mr.  Gallatin's  nomination  has  been  rejected  by  a 
majority  of  one  vote.  I  find  from  another  quarter  that  Mr. 
Anderson  and  Mr.  Stone  voted  against  it. 

I  did  not  choose  to  tease  you  with  the  agitation  of  the  subject 
while  I  was.  at  Washington.  The  question  turned  upon  this ; 
if  Mr.  Madison  would  declare  the  Secretary's  office  vacant,  the 
Senate  would  confirm  the  nomination ;  but  he  firmly  refused  to 
do  so.  The  Federalists  were  very  busy  on  the  occasion ;  but  the 
malcontent  junto  of  self-styled  Republicans  were  worse;  and 
Armstrong, — he  was  the  devil  from  the  beginning,  is  now,  and 
ever  will  be.  In  short,  every  art  has  been  employed  to  defeat 
the  mission,  to  ruin  the  Administration,  and  to  depreciate  Mr. 
Gallatin.  In  the  last  object  the  host  of  ill-assorted  enemies  will 
fail ;  but  the  political  mischief  that  has  been  done  and  will  be 
done  is  incalculable.  , 


J.  J.  ASTOR   TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  9th  August,  1813. 

DEAR  SIR, — By  this  opportunity  you  will  receive  an  account 
of  the  strange,  if  not  wicked,  proceedings  of  the  Senate.  The 
President  has  been  led  astray  by  some  of  its  members  in  the  be- 


1813.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  489 

lief  of  a  majority  in  favor  of  the  nomination  and  retaining  you 
at  same  time  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He  made  this  a  point 
on  which  they  split.  I  came  to  Washington  some  few  days  after 
the  rejection  had  passed.  It  was  well  understood  that  if  he 
would  re-nominate  with  an  understanding  to  appoint  another 
Secretary,  the  nomination  should  be  confirmed.  It  was  evident 
that  he  was  much  at  a  loss ;  what  from  personal  attachment  to 
you,  not  knowing  what  might  be  your  wish  and  your  feelings, 
and  what  in  the  difference  of  opinion  of  your  own  friends,  to- 
gether with  a  natural  dislike  to  yield  to  the  Senate,  he  was  in 
great  perplexity  and  hesitation.  My  decided  opinion  was  to  have 
a  nomination  made,  for,  from  a  letter  which  you  wrote  to  Mr. 
Worthington,  I  was  clearly  of  opinion  that  you  contemplated 
what  would  likely  happen  in  the  Senate;  but  many  of  your 
friends  being  entirely  unacquainted  with  your  ideas  on  this  sub- 
ject, there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  between  them.  I  advised 
Mr.  W.  to  tell  Mr.  Madison  that  he  had  such  a  letter  from  you, 
and  to  make  it  known  to  your  friends,  which  if  he  had  done  in 
time,  I  believe  the  President  would  not  have  made  it  a  point  as 
he  did.  I  mentioned  to  him  of  the  letter,  but  it  was  too  late, 
for  he  began  to  believe  that  in  consequence  of  the  armistice  on 
the  continent  there  would  be  no  negotiation,  and,  not  willing  to 
part  with  you  or  to  have  you  withdrawn  from  the  Adminis- 
tration without  your  own  desire,  he  determined  to  hold  on  as 
he  did.  He  may  be  right,  but  I  think  I  would  have  done 
otherwise.  He  certainly  suffered  much  in  mind  on  your  ac- 
count; but  I  think  I  should  have  let  the  public  good  take 
the  lead.  He  may  have  many  reasons  which  I  know  nothing 
of;  your  own  feelings  were  certainly  of  weighty  consideration 
with  him.  .  .  . 

I  wonder  that  you  did  not  impart  your  ideas  to  some  of 
your  friends;  no  one,  except  Mr.  Worthington,  seemed  to 
know  anything  about  it.  I  wish  I  had  known  half  as  much, 
and  I  would  have  made  use  of  it  to  effect.  Though  I  might 
have  run  risk  to  displease  you,  I  should  have  done  good  to 
the  country,  unless  there  be  no  negotiation,  in  .which  case  you 
cannot  return  too  soon.  On  every  account  you  are  wanting  at 
Washington.  .  .  . 


490  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIIST.  1813. 

W.  H.  CRAWFOKD   TO   GALLATIN. 

PARIS,  20th  April,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, —  .  .  .  The  French  papers  of  yesterday  state  that 
you  are  added  to  the  commission  to  treat  at  Gottenburg.  Mr. 
Beasley  says  that  Mr.  Adams  is  also  of  the  commission.  I  can- 
not believe  that  all  of  you  are  to  proceed  to  Gottenburg.  If 
you  are  going,  I  presume  it  is  in  consequence  of  your  having 
vacated  your  seat  in  the  Cabinet.  I  hope  this  conjecture  is  un- 
founded. This  is  the  course  which  your  enemies  wished  to  com- 
pel you  to  adopt.  I  agree  that  the  treatment  you  have  received 
would  justify  the  measure,  but  when  I  know  the  gratification 
which  Messrs.  Giles,  Smith,  and  Leib  will  feel  from  your  resig- 
nation, I  cannot  reconcile  it  to  my  feelings.  All  this  mischief 
has  grown  out  of  Brent's  mobility  or  his  thirst.  The  day  before  I 
left  Washington  I  called  on  a  number  of  the  Senators  and  insisted 
on  the  danger  of  delay  and  urged  them  to  decide  the  question 
before  they  adjourned.  They  decided  every  embarrassing  ques- 
tion about  4  P.M.,  when  Mr.  Brent,  as  he  says,  out  of  complai- 
sance to  Mr.  King,  consented  to  let  the  nomination  stand  over  till 
the  next  day.  They  had  a  decided  majority,  and  Anderson,  who 
voted  against  them  on  all  the  embarrassing  questions,  declared  he 
would  vote  for  the  nomination.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  voted 
against  it  in  the  end.  The  desire  to  get  Mr.  Cheves  into  the 
Treasury  had  some  influence  upon  two  or  three  Senators.  I  told 
Mr.  Madison  that  he  would  be  pressed  on  that  point.  .  .  . 


A.   J.    DALLAS   TO   GALLATIN. 

14th  February,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, — If  you  receive  this  letter  in  Europe  you  will 
have  an  opportunity  to  hear  from  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Eussell  all 
the  public  news  of  this  country ;  and  consequently  it  would  be 
an  unnecessary  trouble  both  to  you  and  to  me  to  enter  into  a 
written  detail.  Your  absence  has  embarrassed  everybody.  It 
is  a  subject  of  lasting  regret  that  you  did  not  confide  to  some 
friend  your  wishes  respecting  the  course  to  be  taken  if  the  Sen- 
ate should  refuse  to  confirm  your  nomination  as  minister  while 


1813.  THE    TKEASUKY.     1801-1813.  491 

you  retained  the  office  of  Secretary,  or  if  the  business  and  casual- 
ties of  the  mission  should  protract  your  absence  so  long  as  to 
render  it  impracticable  to  keep  the  Treasury  Department  open 
for  you.  Mr.  Bayard  asked  me  whether  you  had  reflected  upon 
the  first  event  as  a  probable  one,  and  you  merely  smiled  when  I 
repeated  his  question  to  you.  However,  the  arrangement  is  now 
made  in  the  best  manner  to  evince  the  President's  attachment 
and  the  public  confidence  by  restoring  you  to  the  mission  when 
it  became  indispensable  to  treat  the  Treasury  Department  as 
vacant.  I  do  not  believe  that  during  any  part  of  your  public 
life  you  enjoyed  more  general  respect  and  more  valuable  popu- 
larity than  at  the  present  crisis.  Indeed,  your  name  being 
restored  to  the  mission  has  revived  the  hope  of  its  success,  which 
failed  when  your  name  was  excluded.  I  look  confidently  to 
your  return  with  additional  claims  to  public  gratitude  and 
honors.  .  .  . 

Lovers  of  historical  detail  may  without  much  difficulty  pick 
from  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  administrative  policy 
such  fragments  as  survived  their  originator  and  became  founda- 
tion-stones of  the  ultimate  governmental  system.  Many  such 
fragments  there  were,  and  of  the  first  importance,  but  it  is  not  by 
them  that  Mr.  Gallatin  is  to  be  measured.  No  one  has  ever 
seriously  questioned  his  supereminence  among  American  finan- 
ciers. No  one  who  has  any  familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  our 
government  has  failed  to  be  struck  with  the  evidences  of  his  per- 
vading activity  and  his  administrative  skill.  His  methods  were 
simple,  direct,  and  always  economical.  He  had  little  respect  for 
mere  financial  devices,  and  he  labored  painfully  to  simplify  every 
operation  and  to  render  intelligible  every  detail  of  business.  It 
may  be  doubted  whether  he  ever  made  a  mistake  in  any  of  his 
undertakings,  and  whether  any  work  done  by  him  has  ever  been 
found  inefficient;  but  it  is  useless  to  catalogue  these  undertakings. 
His  system  was  not  one  of  detached  ideas  or  of  parti-colored 
design.  As  their  scheme  existed  in  the  minds  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
Mr.  Gallatin,  and  Mr.  Madison,  it  was  broad  as  society  itself, 
and  aimed  at  providing  for  and  guiding  the  moral  and  material 
development  of  a  new  era, — a  fresh  race  of  men.  It  was  not  a 


492  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1813. 

mere  departmental  reform  or  a  mere  treasury  administration 
that  Mr.  Gallatin  undertook;  it  was  a  theory  of  democratic 
government  which  he  and  his  associates  attempted  to  reduce 
to  practice.  They  failed,  and  although  their  failure  was  due 
partly  to  accident,  it  was  due  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  they  put  too 
high  an  estimate  upon  human  nature.  They  failed  as  Hamilton 
and  his  associates,  with  a  different  ideal  and  equally  positive 
theories,  had  failed  before  them.  Yet,  whatever  may  have  been 
the  extent  of  their  defeat  or  of  their  success,  one  fact  stands  out 
in  strong  relief  on  the  pages  of  American  history.  Except  those 
theories  of  government  which  are  popularly  represented  by 
the  names  of  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  no  solution  of  the  great 
problems  of  American  politics  has  ever  been  offered  to  the 
American  people.  Since  the  day  when  foreign  violence  and 
domestic  faction  prostrated  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  two  friends,  no 
statesman  has  ever  appeared  with  the  strength  to  bend  their 
bow, — to  finish  their  uncompleted  task. 


BOOK  IY. 

DIPLOMACY.    1813-1829. 

"  9TH  May,  Sunday. — At  3  P.M.  sailed  from  New  Castle  on 
board  the  ship  Neptune,  of  300  tons,  Captain  Lloyd  Jones.  We 
are  in  all  34  persons  on  board,  viz.,  Albert  Gallatin  and  James 
A.  Bayard,  ministers  of  the  United  States ;  George  M.  Dallas, 
George  B.  Milligan,  John  P.  Todd,  and  James  Gallatin,  their 
secretaries  ;  Henry  Smothers,  Peter  Brown,  and  George  Shorter, 
their  black  servants ;  Mr.  Pflug,  a  Russian,  and  his  black  boy, 
Peter ;  Captain  Jones,  his  two  mates  Tomlinson  and  Fisher,  and 
William  C.  Nicholson,  midshipman ;  Dr.  Layton,  a  black  stew- 
ard, a  white  and  a  black  cook,  a  boatswain,  eleven  able  and  three 
ordinary  seamen.  Rodney  and  Collector  McLane  accompanied 
us  with  the  revenue  cutter,  in  which  they  returned  in  the  evening. 
Anchored  at  night  near  Bombay  Hook. 

"llth  May,  Tuesday.— Bore  down  for  a  British  frigate.  Fell 
to  the  leeward.  She,  being  at  anchor,  sent  her  boat  on  board 
with  a  lieutenant  and  compliments  from  the  captain  to  me,  and 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  see  me  on  board.  This  was  perhaps 
intended  as  civility,  but  was  of  course  declined,  and  we  sent 
Dallas  and  Milligan  on  board  with  our  compliments.  Captain 
Jones  went  at  the  same  time  to  show  to  the  captain  of  the  frigate 
Admiral  Warren's  passport,  which  the  captain  endorsed.  His 
name  is  Braynton ;  the  frigate's,  Spartan,  a  36  ...  The  Spartan 
is  the  only  armed  English  vessel  here.  At  3  P.M.  sailed  to  sea, 
and  in  the  evening  took  our  departure  from  Cape  Henlopen. 

"  The  incidents  of  voyage  to  Gottenburg  but  few.  .  .  . 

"20th  June,  Sunday. — At  8  o'clock  A.M.  anchored  in  the 
quarantine  ground.  ...  At  7  in  the  evening  the  officer  returned 
from  Gottenburg  with  permission  to  land.  .  .  .  We  immediately 
jumped  in  the  boat  and  went  ashore  on  the  quarantine  island, 

493 


494  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  ATI  N.  1813. 

and  scampered  amongst  the  rocks,  pulling  wild  roses  and  bunches 
of  clover,  which  grew  in  small  patches  of  low  ground,  none  con- 
taining more  than  two  acres,  all  the  rest  of  the  island  consisting 
of  barren  rocks.  ...  At  night  we  returned  on  board. 

"  21st  June,  Monday. — After  breakfast  we  hired  the  quaran- 
tine and  a  fisherman's  boat  to  take  us  to  Gottenburg.  .  .  .  Our 
boatmen  told  us  that  the  current  being  very  rapid  down  the 
river  Gotha  after  we  should  have  passed  the  castle,  and  the  wind 
right  ahead,  we  must  land  at  some  houses  on  the  main  about 
four  miles  by  land  from  Gottenburg,  where  we  could  get  car- 
riages to  take  us  to  town.  This  we  accordingly  did,  on  as  barren 
and  rocky  spot  as  what  we  had  yet  seen,  and  there  we  entered 
the  first  Swedish  houses.  They  had  inside  the  appearance  of 
Pennsylvania  German  houses,  both  as  to  smell,  inhabitants,  and 
furniture.  A  fat,  fair,  ugly  woman  was  blowing  her  nose  in 
her  apron.  The  husband  was  drinking  a  dish  of  very  strong 
coffee.  On  the  table  was  a  large  lump  of  loaf  sugar,  the  only 
kind  used  even  by  poor  people.  Although  their  dress  and 
appearance  reminded  me  of  the  Germans,  they  are  much  fairer 
complexion,  and,  if  tanned,  their  hair  and  eyes  still  discover  it. 
But  they  did  not  to  me  appear  as  healthy-looking  as  our  Amer- 
icans. .  .  .  Four  wooden  open  chairs,  not  better-looking  than 
carts,  some  with  steel  and  some  with  wooden  springs,  were  soon 
brought,  each  drawn  by  a  small  but  pretty  good  horse,  harnessed 
with  ropes.  The  drivers  sat  at  the  bottom,  an.d  we  set  off,  two 
in  each.  ...  At  the  end  of  four  miles  we  came  in  sight  of  the 
river  Gotha,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  and  had  a 
view  of  the  suburb  of  Martagat  and  of  much  shipping  along 
its  wharves.  .  .  .  Knowing  nobody,  we  stopped  at  the  house  of 
a  Mr.  Dixon,  a  Scotchman,  who  had  formerly  acted  as  American 
consul,  and  requested  him  to  show  us  the  best  inn.  .  .  .  There 
we  were  soon  joined  by  Mr.  Fosdick,  of  Boston.  .  .  .  Mr.  Law- 
rence, of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Bowie,  of  Georgetown,  came 
also  to  see  us  and  to  hear  from  America.  We  had  been  delighted 
to  see  once  more  population  of  any  kind,  but  to  meet  Americans 
at  such  distance  from  home  is  a  feeling  to  be  understood  only  by 
those  who  have  experienced  it.  I  could  have  pressed  every  one 
to  my  bosom  as  a  brother.  .  .  . 


1813.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  495 

"  22d  June,  Tuesday.— We  left  Gottenburg  after  breakfast, 
.  .  .  and  in  two  hours  reached  our  ship.  ...  At  night,  having 
had  two  sets  of  pilots,  though  the  distance  was  but  twelve  miles, 
we  reached  the  sea.  .  .  . 

"  24th  June,  Thursday. — .  .  .  At  dusk  anchored  in  Copen- 
hagen inner  roads. 

"  25th  June,  Friday.— Landed  at  10.    Bachalan's  hotel.  .  .  . 

"  1st  July,  Thursday. — Breakfasted  and  went  on  board.  .  .  . 
Detained  all  day  by  southeast  wind.  Field  of  battle  of  Nelson, 
1801.  New  fortifications  and  defences.  Block  ships  sunk  in 
sixteen  feet  water.  Bombardment  in  September,  1807;  400 
houses  destroyed,  1500  persons  killed.  This  cause  of  great 
increase  of  army  and  expense.  Batteries  everywhere;  armed 
population.  Norway  starved  and  faithful.  Frugality  of  King 
in  personal  expenses.  Ministers  serve  for  nothing  (nominal 
salary,  8000  old  rigs,  or  about  200  Spanish  dollars).  Existence 
of  kingdom  at  stake.  Conduct  of  Russia  and  England  towards 
it  unintelligible.  They  have  thrown  it  in  France's  hands,  much 
against  their  will.  Despotism  and  no  oppression.  Poverty  and 
no  discontent.  Civility  and  no  servile  obsequiousness  amongst 
people.  Decency  and  sobriety.  .  .  . 

"8th  July,  Thursday. — Fair  weather;  head-wind.  We  grow 
very  impatient.  We  are  opposite  to  Courland.  .  .  . 

"12th  July,  Monday.— Head-wind.  .  .  .  Entered  Gulf  of 
Finland." 

Here  end  Mr.  Gallatin's  memoranda  of  his  voyage,  and  here 
begins  the  history  of  his  long  diplomatic  career.  He  arrived  at 
St.  Petersburg  on  the  21st  July,  and  set  to  work  with  his  col- 
leagues to  cariy  out  the  purposes  of  the  mission. 

As  now  completed,  the  American  commission  appointed  to 
negotiate  for  peace  under  the  mediation  of  E-ussia  consisted  of 
Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  then  our  minister  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  Mr.  James  A.  Bayard.  For  the  first  time  Gallatin 
was  now  associated  in  public  business  with  J.  Q.  Adams,  and 
by  a  curious  combination  of  circumstances  this  association  was 
destined  to  last  during  all  the  remainder  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  public 
life.  What  each  of  these  men  thought  of  the  other  will  be  seen 


496  LIFE     OP     ALBEKT     GALL  A  TIN.  1813. 

in  the  course  of  the  story,  for  neither  of  them  had  anything  to 
conceal.  Cast  as  they  were  in  two  absolutely  different  moulds, 
it  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  they  should  ever  stand 
in  such  close  and  affectionate  intimacy  as  had  existed  between 
Mr.  Gallatin  and  the  two  Presidents  of  his  own  choice,  especially 
since  the  Virginia  triumvirate  was  even  more  remarkable  for 
the  private  than  for  the  public  relations  of  its  members,  and  in 
this  respect  stands  without  a  parallel  in  our  history.  Although 
there  was  little  in  common  between  the  New  England  tempera- 
ment of  Mr.  Adams  and  the  Virginia  geniality  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  Mr.  Madison ;  although  Mr.  Adams,  as  the  younger  man 
and  at  first  the  inferior  in  rank  and  influence,  could  under  no 
circumstances  stand  to  Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  same  light  as  his 
older  and  more  confidential  friends ;  although  the  previous  his- 
tory of  both  seemed  little  calculated  to  inspire  confidence  or 
good  will  in  either ;  there  was  nevertheless  a  curious  parallelism 
in  the  lives  and  characters  of  the  two  men,  which,  notwith- 
standing every  jar,  compelled  them  to  move  side  by  side  and  to 
agree  in  policy  and  opinion  even  while  persuading  themselves 
that  their  aims  and  methods  were  radically  divergent.  Mr. 
Adams  was  about  six  years  the  junior.  When  young  Gallatin 
took  his  degree  at  the  College  of  Geneva  in  May,  1779,  young 
Adams^was  arriving  with  his  father  at  Paris  to  begin  his  edu- 
cation as  diplomate  and  scholar  in  the  centre  of  all  that  was  then 
most  cultivated  and  stimulating  in  the  world.  While  Gallatin 
was  wandering  with  Serre  among  the  Maine  woods,  Adams  was 
wandering  between  Paris  and  St.  Petersburg,  picking  up  his 
education  as  he  went.  Had  Gallatin  remained  two  years  longer 
at  Harvard  College,  he  would  have  met  Adams  there.  As  they 
grew  older  they  were  in  opposing  ranks  as  public  men.  For 
Gallatin's  early  political  theories  Adams  felt  little  respect,  and 
for  his  eminent  share  in  expelling  the  Federalists  from  office 
the  son  of  the  expelled  President  could  hardly  have  been  grate- 
ful. A  few  years,  however,  brought  them  together.  As  Senator 
the  force  of  circumstances  compelled  Mr.  Adams  to  support  the 
Administration  and  the  measures  of  Mr.  Jefferson  for  the  same 
reasons  which  compelled  Mr.  Gallatin  to  support  those  measures 
which,  abstractly  considered,  were  entirely  inconsistent  with  his 


1813.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  497 

past  history  and  his  early  convictions.  In  1813  there  was  no 
very  decided  opinion  to  divide  them.  They  worked  cordially 
together  at  St.  Petersburg  and  at  Ghent.  During  nearly  twelve 
years  they  continued  to  work  together  in  the  management  of  our 
foreign  relations.  The  irruption  of  President  Jackson  and  his 
political  following  threw  them  both  out  of  public  life ;  and  when 
Mr.  Adams  returned  to  it  as  member  of  Congress,  Mr.  Gallatin 
remained  in  retirement.  Both  were  then  non-partisan;  both 
held  very  strong  convictions  in  regard  to  the  duties  and  the 
short-comings  of  the  day ;  both  died  near  the  same  time,  the  last 
relics  of  the  early  statesmanship  of  the  republic. 

So  far  as  his  colleagues  in  the  mission  to  St.  Petersburg  were 
concerned,  although  Mr.  Adams  had  been  and  Mr.  Bayard  still 
was  a  moderate  Federalist,  Gallatin  found  no  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  harmonious  action;  but  almost  from  the  first  moment  it 
became  evident  that  the  negotiation  itself  was  destined  never  to 
take  place.  The  English  government,  though  somewhat  embar- 
rassed by  Russia's  offer  to  mediate,  and  yet  more  by  the  quick 
action  of  President  Madison  in  sending  commissioners  under  that 
offer,  was  clear  in  its  determination  not  to  allow  Russia  or  any 
other  nation  to  interpose  in  what  it  chose  to  consider  a  domestic 
quarrel.  The  questions  involved  were  questions  of  neutral  rights, 
and  on  that  ground  the  position  of  the  Baltic  powers  had  never 
been  satisfactory  to  England ;  accordingly,  England  had  met  the 
invitation  of  Russia,  if  not  with  a  positive  refusal,  certainly  with 
decided  coldness.  Instead  of  finding  everything  prepared  for 
negotiation,  Mr.  Gallatin  found  on  his  arrival  that  not  a  single 
step  had  yet  been  taken  by  England  beyond  the  communication 
of  a  note  which  discouraged  any  arbitration  whatever.  Unfor- 
tunately, too,  there  were  complications  beneath  the  surface; 
complications  with  which  the  American  commissioners  were  not 
familiar,  and  which  no  agency  of  theirs  could  remove.  The 
Emperor  was  not  at  St.  Petersburg;  he  was  with  his  army, 
fighting  Napoleon.  He  had  left  Count  Romanzoff  behind  him 
at  St.  Petersburg,  and  was  accompanied  by  Count  Nesselrode. 
Count  Romanzoff  had  nominal  charge  of  foreign  affairs;  he 
held  strong  opinions  on  the  subject  of  neutral  and  commercial 
rights;  he  was  regarded  as  not  peculiarly  friendly  to  England; 

32 


498  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIX.  1813. 

and  he  was  the  author  or  instigator  of  the  Emperor's  offer  of 
mediation.  On  him  alone  in  the  imperial  court  could  the  Amer- 
ican commissioners  rely.  On  the  other  hand,  every  immediate 
interest  dictated  to  the  Emperor  the  policy  of  close  friendship 
with  England.  This  policy  was  apparently  represented  by 
Count  Nesselrode,  and  Count  Nesselrode  now  had  every  advan- 
tage in  impressing  it  upon  the  Emperor.  The  British  govern- 
ment before  the  arrival  of  the  American  commissioners  would 
have  preferred  that  Alexander  'should  quietly  abandon  his 
scheme  of  mediation  and  that  all  discussion  of  the  subject 
should  be  dropped.  The  object  of  Romanzoff  was  to  press  the 
mediation  in  order  to  secure  in  the  United  States  a  balance 
against  the  overpowering  dominion  of  England  on  the  ocean. 

The  sudden  arrival  of  the  American  commissioners  was  an 
event  which  no  one  expected  or  wished.  Upon  Count  Roman- 
zoff, already  tottering,  it  brought  a  new  strain,  which  appears  to 
have  been  more  than  he  could  meet ;  yet,  although  his  influence 
was  nearly  at  an  end,  he  still  caused  no  little  irritation  to  the 
British  government  before  his  fall,  and  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  and  Mr.  Bayard  added  greatly  to  this  embarrassment.  Lord 
Castlereagh  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  attempt  to  smother  the 
Emperor's  mediation,  and  to  take  a  more  decided  tone. 

Nothing  could  well  be  more  unpleasant  than  the  position  of 
Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  colleagues  at  St.  Petersburg.  To  see  plainly 
that  they  were  not  wanted  was  in  itself  mortifying,  but  to  feel 
that  they  were  gravely  embarrassing  their  only  real  friend  was 
painful.  Yet  it  was  impossible  to  get  away ;  Count  Romanzoff 
was  not  disposed  to  retreat  from  the  ground  he  had  taken ;  with- 
out waiting  to  be  pressed, — indeed,  immediately  on  hearing  of 
the  arrival  of  the  commissioners  at  Gottenburg, — he  wrote  to  the 
Emperor  suggesting  a  renewal  of  the  offer  of  mediation  to  Eng- 
land. He  did  all  in  his  power  to  make  the  envoys  comfortable 
in  their  unpleasant  situation,  and  he  set  himself  to  study  their 
case  with  the  aid  of  a  masterly  little  memoir  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
prepared  at  his  request. 

On  the  10th  of  August  the  Emperor's  reply  was  communi- 
cated to  the  envoys,  and  it  authorized  Romanzoff  not  only  to 
renew  the  offer  of  mediation,  but  to  send  it  direct  to  London 


1813.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  499 

without  further  advice  from  headquarters.  On  the  24th,  the 
Count  summoned  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  two  colleagues  to  listen 
to  the  reading  of  his  despatches,  by  which  the  offer  was  to  be 
renewed ;  and  at  Mr.  Gallatin's  suggestion  two  slight  alterations 
were  made  in  the  draft. 

The  envoys  had  already  waited  more  than  a  month  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  the  summer  was  gone  without  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  single  object.  Mr.  Gallatin  ought  soon  to  be  on  his 
way  home,  if  he  had  any  idea  of  resuming  his  post  at  the  Treasury, 
but  to  escape  was  now  out  of  the  question,  while  any  effective 
action  was  even  more  hopeless.  The  envoys  discussed  the  sub- 
ject from  every  point  of  view,  but  their  means  were  slender 
enough  and  the  power  of  England  was  omnipotent  about  them. 
For  their  purposes  it  was  essential  to  open  some  private  com- 
munication with  the  Emperor  Alexander  at  headquarters ;  Gen- 
eral Moreau  offered  himself  for  this  service,  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
wrote  to  him  at  considerable  length  on  the  subject.1  To  ascer- 
tain directly  the  views  and  intentions  of  the  British  government 
was  more  important,  and  here  Mr.  Gallatin  was  even  more 
fortunate.  On  his  arrival  at  Gottenburg  he  had  written  to  his 
old  acquaintance  Alexander  Baring,  announcing  his  progress 
towards  St.  Petersburg,  and  in  this  letter  he  had  invited  com- 
munication of  intelligence  connected  with  the  mission.  Mr. 
Baring  replied  on  the  22d  July,  and  his  letter  reached  St. 
Petersburg  about  the  middle  of  August;  it  was  written  with 
the  knowledge  and  advice  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  and  showed  in 
every  line  the  embarrassment  caused  by  the  Russian  offer  of 
mediation.  In  order  to  withdraw  questions  of  blockade,  contra- 
band, and  right  of  search  from  the  mediation  of  a  Baltic  power, 
the  British  government  was  driven  to  assume  the  position  that 
this  was  "a  sort  of  family  quarrel,  where  foreign  interference 
can  only  do  harm  and  irritate  at  any  time,  but  more  especially 
in  the  present  state  of  Europe,  when  attempts  would  be  made  to 
make  a  tool  of  America  in  a  manner  which  I  am  sure  neither 
you  nor  your  colleagues  would  sanction.  These,  I  have  good 
reason  to  know,  are  pretty  nearly  the  sentiments  of  government 

1  See  both  letters  in  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  pp.  562,  576. 


500  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1813. 

here  on  the  question  of  place  of  negotiation  and  foreign  media- 
tion, and,  before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  have  been  informed 
that  this  mediation  has  been  refused,  with  expressions  of  our 
desire  to  treat  separately  and  directly  here,  or,  if  more  agree- 
able to  you,  at  Gottenburg." 

This  was  clumsy  enough  on  the  part  of  the  British  ministry, 
whose  parental  interest  in  protecting  the  innocence  of  America 
from  contact  with  the  sinfulness  of  Russia  was  not  calculated 
to  effect  its  avowed  object,  and  still  less  to  please  the  Emperor 
and  his  continental  allies,  who  were  here  plainly  charged  with 
intending  to  make  a  tool  of  the  United  States ;  but  at  this  time 
English  diplomacy  cultivated  very  few  of  the  arts  and  none 
at  all  of  the  graces ;  there  is  hardly  an  important  state  paper 
in  the  whole  correspondence  between  England  and  America 
from  1806  to  1815,  which,  if  addressed  to  the  United  States 
government  to-day,  would  not  lead  to  blows.  The  letter  of 
Mr.  Baring,  kindly  meant  and  highly  useful  as  it  was.  had  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  English  Foreign  Office,  and  in  the  hands 
of  an  indiscreet  man  would  have  done  more  harm  than  good; 
Mr.  Gallatin's  temper,  however,  was  not  irritable ;  he  did  not 
even  show  the  letter  itself  to  Count  Romanzoff,  and  he  answered 
Mr.  Baring  without  a  trace  of  sarcasm  or  irony.  His  reply  is, 
indeed,  a  model  of  dignified  and  persuasive  address,  brief, 
straightforward,  and  comprehensive,1  and  the  passage  in  which 
he  refers  to  his  own  sacrifice  throws  some  light,  on  the  nature  of 
his  private  feelings :  "  I  would  not  have  given  up  my  political 
existence  and  separated  myself  from  my  family  unless  I  had  be- 
lieved an  arrangement  practicable  and  that  I  might  be  of  some 
utility  in  effecting  it." 

The  situation  was  now  more  than  ever  perplexing.  On  the 
one  hand,  not  only  Mr.  Baring  but  the  British  government 
maintained  that  the  mediation  had  been  refused  and  that  direct 
negotiation  had  been  offered  in  its  place;  on  the  other  hand, 
Count  Romanzoff  denied  that  the  mediation  had  been  refused, 
and  in  a  manner  obliged  the  three  envoys  to  wait  the  result  of 
another  application.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  England  had  made  as 


All  this  correspondence  is  printed  in  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  545,  ff. 


1813.  DIPLOMACY.    1813-1829.  501 

yet  no  offer  of  direct  negotiation;  had  this  offer  been  made 
when  it  was  said  to  have  been  determined  upon,  in  June,  and 
then  transmitted  to  America,  the  situation  would  have  been 
simple ;  but,  as  matters  now  stood,  the  American  envoys  were 
fully  justified  in  thinking  that  the  British  government  had 
no  other  purpose  than  to  mislead  them,  and  their  impatience 
naturally  increased. 

Under  such  circumstances,  Mr.  Gallatin  lingered  helplessly  in 
St.  Petersburg,  idle  and  anxious,  while  the  world  seemed  con- 
vulsed with  agony.  He  wrote  a  long  letter  to  General  Moreau 
on  the  2d  September,  ignorant  that,  while  he  wrote,  Moreau  was 
drawing  his  last  breath.  With  what  patience  he  could  command, 
he  amused  himself  with  such  resources  as  St.  Petersburg  offered. 
No  answer  had  yet  been  received  from  England,  when,  on  the 
19th  October,  letters  arrived  from  the  United  States,  announcing 
that  his  nomination  as  envoy  to  Russia  had  been  rejected  by  the 
Senate,  and  that  consequently  he  was  no  longer  a  member  of  the 
mission. 

Curiously  enough,  only  one  week  had  elapsed  since  Mr.  Gal- 
latin had  been  officially  recognized  as  envoy  by  Count  Roman- 
zoff ;  the  difficulty  of  communicating  with  the  Emperor  had 
caused  delays  in  every  detail,  so  that  all  Mr.  Gallatin's  share  in 
the  transactions  under  the  mediation  was,  with  the  exception  of 
this  single  week,  unofficial.  The  news  of  his  rejection  by  the 
Senate  was  probably  not  unexpected,  but,  like  everything  else  in 
this  unlucky  mission,  it  came  in  just  such  a  way  as  to  increase 
complications ;  no  official  information  of  the  fact  and  no  instruc- 
tions were  received,  nor  did  these  reach  Mr.  Gallatin  until  the 
end  of  March  in  the  following  year,  and  yet  without  such  official 
advices  it  was  difficult  to  get  away  from  St.  Petersburg,  and 
Count  Romanzoff  was  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  he  could 
not  go. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  some  advantages  in  the  situation. 
The  Senate  had  at  least  restored  to  Mr.  Gallatin  his  liberty  of 
action ;  he  was  no  longer  dependent  on  his  colleagues ;  if  not  en- 
voy, he  was  still  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  strong  in  his  relations 
with  the  President,  master  of  all  the  threads  of  the  negotiation, 
and  it  depended  only  upon  himself  to  say  what  measures  he 


502  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1813. 

should  take.  Little  consideration  was  needed  to  show  that  he 
could  do  no  good  by  returning  to  America.  His  enemies  were 
there  in  possession  of  the  field,  and  his  failure  in  diplomacy 
would  strengthen  their  hands ;  his  only  chance  of  baffling  them 
was  by  rescuing  the  negotiation,  and  this  he  set  himself  to  ac- 
complish. Somewhat  to  the  disgust  of  Mr.  Adams,  he  proceeded, 
delicately  but  decidedly,  to  mark  out  his  own  course.  Mr. 
Baring  had  urged  the  mission  to  go  to  England  to  treat  directly 
of  peace.  Mr.  Gal  latin  did,  in  October,  send  his  secretary, 
George  M.  Dallas,  to  London  to  make  a  channel  of  commu- 
nication between  Lord  Castlereagh,  Count  Lieven,  the  Russian 
Ambassador,  and  Mr.  Baring  on  one  side,  and  himself  and  Mr. 
Madison  on  the  other.  The  news  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  rejection 
by  the  Senate  arrived  precisely  as  young  Dallas  was  starting 
for  London.  Thither  Gallatin  meditated  following  him,  and  as 
for  the  responsibility  thus  assumed,  he  bluntly  told  Mr.  Adams 
"  that  he  was  no  longer  a  member  of  the  mission  ;  he  was  a 
private  gentleman,  and  might  go  home  by  the  way  of  England 
or  any  other  way,  as  he  pleased ;  that  as  to  the  approbation  of 
the  government,  he  should  not  trouble  himself  about  it;  he 
would  not  disobey  their  orders,  but  if  he  was  right  he  should 
not  much  regard  whether  they  liked  it  or  not.  Mr.  Baring's 
letter  did  indeed  speak  of  the  decision  of  the  British  govern- 
ment upon  the  point  of  impressment  in  the  clearest  and  strongest 
terms,  but  he  believed  the  point  might  still  be  presented  to 
them  in  a  manner  which  would  induce  them  to  judge  of  it  other- 
wise. This,  he  thought,  would  be  the  utility  of  their  going  to 
England.  For  his  purpose  was  to  convince  the  British  ministers 
that  unless  they  should  yield  on  the  article  of  impressment,  there 
was  no  possibility  of  treating  at  all."1 

Another  scheme  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  was  to  go  directly  to  the 
Emperor  Alexander's  headquarters  and  attempt  to  stimulate  his 
action;  but  to  effect  this  object  a  strong  friend  was  needed,  and 
since  Moreau's  death  there  was  no  individual  about  the  Emperor 
on  whose  aid  reliance  could  be  put. 

The  anomalous  attitude  and  independent  action  of  Mr.  Galla- 

1  Memoirs  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  ii.  549,  19th  November,  1813. 


1813.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  503 

tin  naturally  annoyed  his  colleagues  and  might  easily  have  made 
a  coolness,  but  he  had  the  tact  to  follow  his  own  path  without 
giving  offence.  Meanwhile  the  curious  diplomatic  mystification 
which  had  perplexed  the  American  envoys  all  summer,  and  of 
which  the  Emperor  was  the  innocent  cause,  began  to  approach 
an  end.  As  early  as  July  14,  Lord  Castlereagh  had  instructed 
Lord  Cathcart,  in  the  most  positive  language,  to  make  the 
Emperor  understand  that  England  could  not  consent  to  even  the 
appearance  of  foreign  intervention  in  the  American  dispute,1  and 
this  final  decision  seems  to  have  been  communicated  to  the  Em- 
peror on  the  1st  September,  at  Toplitz,  when  Alexander  had 
already  authorized  Romanzoff  to  renew  the  offer  of  mediation ; 
when  Romanzoff  had  indeed  already  written  his  despatches  to 
that  effect  and  forwarded  them  to  the  Emperor  for  approval. 
On  the  arrival  of  these  despatches  at  headquarters,  Alexander 
wrote  back  on  September  8,  approving  the  draft  for  a  new  offer 
of  mediation  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Lord  Cathcart,  only 
a  week  before,  had  officially  announced  that  under  no  circum- 
stances could  England  admit  of  mediation,  but  that  she  meant 
to  negotiate  directly.  The  second  proposal  to  mediate  was,  there- 
fore, forwarded  by  Romanzoff  to  Count  Lieven,  the  Russian 
ambassador  in  London,  and  the  Count  must  have  informally 
notified  Lord  Castlereagh  of  its  contents,  for  it  seems  to  have 
been  on  the  strength  of  information  contained  in  this  despatch 
that  the  British  note  to  Mr.  Monroe,  dated  November  4,  and 
offering  to  negotiate  directly,  was  founded ;  but  Count  Lieven 
never  officially  communicated  the  proposal  itself  to  Lord  Castle- 
reagh ;  by  the  usual  diplomatic  jugglery  this  second  offer  was 
quietly  suppressed  at  the  British  minister's  hint,  and  Count 
Lieven  only  wrote  back  that  Lord  Castlereagh  had  transmitted 
directly  to  the  Emperor  in  person  a  memoir  containing  his  reasons 
for  declining  mediation.  The  Emperor  forgot  to  communicate 
this  memoir  to  Romanzoff,  and  when  the  latter  received  Lieven's 
letter  early  in  November  he  could  only  communicate  it  without 
explanation  to  the  Americans.  This  was  done  on  November  3, 


1  See  Lord  Castlereagh 's  private  letter  in  the  Castlereagh  Correspondence, 
3d  Series,  vol.  i.  p.  34. 


504  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1813. 

and  by  this  time  another  British  minister,  Lord  Walpole,  had 
arrived  in  St.  Petersburg,  who  irritated  the  Americans  still  further 
by  talking  openly  and  bitterly  of  Count  RomanzofFs  intrigues. 
No  one  knew  how  to  explain  the  riddle.  Even  Lord  Cathcart, 
who  was  with  the  Emperor,  wrote  to  Lord  Castlereagh  on  the 
12th  December:  "I  think  Nesselrode  knows  nothing  of  the  cause 
of  the  delay  of  communicating  with  the  American  mission ;  that 
it  was  an  intrigue  of  the  Chancellor's,  if  it  is  one;  and  that  during 
the  operations  of  war  the  Emperor  has  lost  the  clue  to  it,  so  that 
something  has  been  unanswered.  If  it  is  not  cleared  up,  I  will 
write  another  note  and  send  a  copy  to  Walpole."1  RomanzofF 
himself  was  deeply  mortified,  and  this  evidence  of  the  Emperor's 
neglect  seems  to  have  been  the  cause  of  his  retirement  from  office. 
He  now  announced  to  the  Americans  that  he  should  remain 
Chancellor  a  short  time  longer  solely  to  close  the  affair  of  this 
mission. 

All  the  parties  to  this  imbroglio,  confused  and  irritated  by 
the  veil  of  mystery  which  surrounded  it,  suspected  intrigue  and 
treachery  in  their  opponents.  The  Americans  naturally  believed 
that  England  was  to  blame,  and,  although  this  was  not  the  case, 
there  was  some  reason  in  the  suspicion,  for  Lord  Castlereagh, 
straightforward  and  honest  in  his  treatment  of  Russia,  was 
very  slow  in  dealing  with  America,  and,  instead  of  writing 
on  July  14  to  the  United  States  government,  he  had  waited 
until  Count  Lieven  again  jogged  his  elbow  by  bringing  to  his 
knowledge  Count  RomanzofFs  second  offer  of  mediation.  This 
was  the  entire  advantage  gained  for  America  by  Russia,  and  the 
whole  result  accomplished  by  Mr.  Gallatin's  voyage.  On  the 
4th  November,  Lord  Castlereagh  forwarded  to  America  the  offer 
of  direct  negotiation  which  he  had  announced  in  his  instructions 
to  Lord  Cathcart  of  the  14th  July.  Not  until  Mr.  Baring 
wrote  to  Mr.  Gallatin  on  the  14th  December  did  these  facts 
become  certainly  known  to  the  Americans,  and  even  then  Mr. 
Baring  was  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  dates  furnished  him  from 
the  Foreign  Office. 

All  hope  of  success  from  the  mediation  had  long  vanished; 

1  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  vol.  i.  p.  94. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  505 

the  winter  had  set  in ;  Gallatin  was  not  even  a  member  of  the 
commission;  yet  he  still  lingered  at  St.  Petersburg,  partly  in 
deference  to  Count  Romanzoff's  wish,  partly  in  the  hope  of 
receiving  the  long-expected  communication  from  the  Emperor 
which  was  to  close  the  mission,  partly  in  expectation  of  receiving 
more  decisive  news  from  England  or  of  getting  instructions  from 
America,  partly  in  order  to  have  the  company  of  Mr.  Bayard  on 
his  journey.  Not  until  the  25th  January,  1814,  did  they  leave 
St.  Petersburg,  and  still  without  a  word  from  the  Emperor. 

They  travelled  with  all  the  slowness  inevitable  in  the  move- 
ments of  those  times  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Amsterdam.  There 
they  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  March,  and  there  they 
remained  during  four  weeks.  The  situation  of  affairs  did  not 
grow  better.  The  complete  destruction  of  France  was  practically 
accomplished,  and  America  was  now  left  to  oppose  alone  the 
whole  power  of  England,  which  would  infallibly  be  directed 
against  her.  On  reaching  Amsterdam  Mr.  Gallatin  learned  that 
Lord  Castlereagh's  offer  of  direct  negotiation  had  been  promptly 
met  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Madison  by  the  appointment  of  a  new 
commission,  of  which  Mr.  Gallatin  himself  was  not  one,  for  the 
reason  that  at  the  time  these  nominations  were  made  he  was 
supposed  to  be  on  his  way  home  to  resume  his  post  at  the 
Treasury.  When  the  mistake  was  discovered,  and  after  it  had 
become  evident  that  the  Treasury  must  no  longer  be  left  vacant, 
the  President,  on  the  8th  February,  nominated  Mr.  Gallatin  as 
a  member  of  the  new  commission,  and  at  the  same  time  appointed 
Mr.  G.  W.  Campbell  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  By  this  acci- 
dent Mr.  Gallatin,  instead  of  standing  first  in  the  commission, 
was  made  its  last  member,  and  all  his  colleagues,  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Bayard,  Henry  Clay,  and  Jonathan  Russell,  took  precedence 
of  him. 

These  proceedings  had  no  effect  in  changing  Mr.  Gallatin's 
movements;  whether  first  or  last  in  the  commission,  or  whether 
omitted  from  it  entirely,  he  continued  to  superintend  all  the 
diplomatic  operations  connected  with  the  proposed  peace.  To- 
wards the  end  of  March  he  received  from  Mr.  Baring  the  neces- 
sary permission  to  visit  England,  and  immediately  afterwards  he 
crossed  the  channel  with  Mr.  Bayard  and  established  himself  in 


506  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

London.  Almost  at  the  same  moment  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Rus- 
sell arrived  at  Gottenburg,  and  brought  with  them  Mr.  Gallatin's 
appointment  as  fifth  commissioner.  A  considerable  time  neces- 
sarily elapsed  before  all  the  five  envoys  could  be  brought  together, 
and  during  this  interval  Mr.  Gallatin  was  quietly  employed  in 
smoothing  the  path  of  negotiation. 

With  the  British  government  itself  he  held  no  direct  commu- 
nication on  the  difficult  points  involved  in  the  future  settlement, 
and  if  he  still  hoped  to  persuade  that  government  to  make  con- 
cessions on  the  subject  of  impressment,  his  hope  was  altogether 
disappointed;  neither  Mr.  Baring  nor  Lord  Castlereagh  him- 
self would  at  that  moment  have  dared  to  suggest  the  smallest 
concession  on  that  point  in  the  face  of  the  excited  popular  feeling 
of  England.  Mr.  Gallatin  appears  to  have  refrained  from  every 
attempt  to  negotiate  on  his  own  account,  and  to  have  contented 
himself  with  removing  such  obstacles  and  with  setting  in  motion 
such  influences  as  it  was  in  his  power  to  affect  or  control. 

The  first  object  he  had  at  heart  was  the  removal  of  the  place 
of  negotiation.  Their  instructions,  not  as  yet  known  to  Mr. 
Gallatin,  authorized  the  envoys  to  treat,  and  assumed  Gotten- 
burg  as  the  place,  rejecting  the  British  proposition  to  treat  at 
London.  Mr.  Gallatin  would  have  preferred  London,  because 
he  believed,  and  with  justice,  that  his  chances  were  better  with 
Lord  Castlereagh  than  with  any  mere  agent  of  the  Foreign 
Office;  but  this  point  was  one  of  pride  as  well  as  fear  among 
Americans ;  to  London  they  would  not  go,  and  accordingly  Mr. 
Gallatin  contented  himself  with  changing  the  place  of  negotiation 
to  Ghent.  The  following  letter  explains  his  motives  for  this 
movement. 


GALLATIN   TO   HENRY   CLAY. 

LONDON,  22d  April,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, — We  have  just  heard  of  your  arrival,  but  have 
received  no  letters,  and  I  am  yet  ignorant  whether  I  am  one  of 
the  new  commission  to  treat  of  peace.  My  arrangements  must 
depend  on  that  circumstance,  and  I  wait  with  impatience  for  the 
official  account  which  you  must  have  brought.  For  that  reason 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  507 

Mr.  Bayard  addresses  you  and  Mr.  Russell  in  his  own  name,  but 
I  coincide  fully  with  him  in  the  opinion  that  the  negotiations 
should  by  all  means  be  opened  here,  or  at  least  in  Holland,  if 
this  is  not  rendered  impracticable  from  the  nature  of  the  com- 
mission. If  this  has  unfortunately  been  limited  to  treating  of 
peace  at  Gottenburg,  there  is  no  remedy ;  but  if  the  commission 
admits  of  a  change  of  place,  I  would  feel  no  hesitation  in  re- 
moving them  at  least  to  any  other  neutral  place,  whatever  may 
be  the  language  of  the  instructions.  For  their  spirit  would  be 
fully  answered  by  treating  in  any  other  friendly  country  as  well 
as  if  at  Gottenburg.  On  that  point  I  feel  great  anxiety,  because, 
on  account  of  the  late  great  changes  in  Europe,  and  of  the  in- 
creased difficulties  thence  arising  in  making  any  treaty,  I  do 
believe  that  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  succeed  in  that 
corner,  removed  from  every  friendly  interference  in  our  favor  on 
the  part  of  the  European  powers,  and  compelled  to  act  with  men 
clothed  with  limited  authorities,  and  who  might  at  all  times  plead 
a  want  of  instructions. 

You  are  sufficiently  aware  of  the  total  change  in  our  affairs 
produced  by  the  late  revolution  and  by  the  restoration  of  uni- 
versal peace  in  the  European  world,  from  which  we  are  alone 
excluded.  A  well-organized  and  large  army  is  at  once  liberated 
from  any  European  employment,  and  ready,  together  with  a 
superabundant  naval  force,  to  act  immediately  against  us.  How 
ill  prepared  we  are  to  meet  it  in  a  proper  manner  no  one  knows 
better  than  yourself;  but,  above  all,  our  own  divisions  and  the 
hostile  attitude  of  the  Eastern  States  give  room  to  apprehend  that 
a  continuance  of  the  war  might  prove  vitally  fatal  to  the  United 
States. 

I  understand  that  the  ministers,  with  whom  we  have  not  had 
any  direct  intercourse,  still  profess  to  be  disposed  to  make  an 
equitable  peace.  But  the  hope,  not  of  ultimate  conquest,  but  of 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  the  convenient  pretence  which  the 
American  war  will  afford  to  preserve  large  military  establish- 
ments, and,  above  all,  the  force  of  popular  feeling,  may  all  unite 
in  inducing  the  Cabinet  in  throwing  impediments  in  the  way  of 
peace.  They  will  not  certainly  be  disposed  to  make  concessions, 
nor  probably  displeased  at  a  failure  of  negotiations.  That  the 


508  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALL  AT  IN.  1814. 

war  is  popular,  and  that  national  pride,  inflated  by  the  last  un- 
expected success,  cannot  be  satisfied  without  what  they  call  the 
chastisement  of  America,  cannot  be  doubted.  The  mass  of  the 
people,  here  know  nothing  of  American  politics  but  through  the 
medium  of  Federal  speeches  and  newspapers  faithfully  tran- 
scribed in  their  own  journals.  They  do  not  even  suspect  that 
we  have  any  just  cause  of  complaint,  and  consider  us  altogether 
as  the  aggressors  and  as  allies  of  Bonaparte.  In  those  opinions 
it  is  understood  that  the  ministers  do  not  participate,  but  it  will 
really  require  an  effort  on  their  part  to  act  contrary  to  public 
opinion,  and  they  must,  even  if  perfectly  sincere,  use  great 
caution  and  run  some  risk  of  popularity.  A  direct,  or  at  least  a 
very  near,  intercourse  with  them  is  therefore  highly  important, 
as  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  would  go  further  themselves  than 
they  would  be  willing  to  intrust  any  other  person.  To  this  must 
be  added  that  Lord  Castlereagh  is,  according  to  the  best  infor- 
mation I  have  been  able  to  collect,  the  best  disposed  man  in  the 
Cabinet,  and  that  coming  from  France,  and  having  had  inter- 
course with  the  Emperor  Alexander,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
those  dispositions  may  have  been  increased  by  the  personal  ex- 
pression of  the  Emperor's  wishes  in  favor  of  peace  with  America. 
Whatever  advantages  may  be  derived  from  that  circumstance 
and. from  the  Emperor's  arrival  here  would  be  altogether  lost  at 
Gottenburg.  .  .  . 

HENRY   CLAY   TO   GALLATIN. 

GOTTENBURQ,  2d  May,  1814. 

DEAK  SIR, — I  am  rejoiced  at  finding  you  in  Europe.  We 
had  great  fears  that  you  would  have  left  it  before  our  arrival 
and  proceeded  to  America.  Your  rejection  last  summer  in  the 
Senate  was  very  generally  condemned  by  the  people,  and  pro- 
duced a  reaction  highly  favorable  to  you.  The  total  uncertainty 
in  which  the  government  was  left  as  to  your  movements  (for  on 
the  1st  February,  when  I  left  Washington,  not  one  syllable  had 
been  received  from  either  yourself  or  Mr.  Bayard),  and  the  in- 
creased and  complicated  concerns  of  the  Treasury,  produced  a 
state  of  things  highly  embarrassing  to  the  President ;  so  much 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  509 

so  that  he  could  no  longer  resist  the  pressure  to  fill  the  Treasury. 
After  this  measure  was  determined  on,  it  became  more  than  ever- 
desirable  that  the  public  should  have  the  benefit  of  your  services 
here.  Had  it  not  been  confidently  believed  when  the  new  com- 
mission was  formed  that  you  were  on  your  way  to  America  and 
would  be  there  shortly,  you  would  have  been  originally  compre- 
hended in  it. 

I  have  not  time  to  say  what  I  want  to  communicate  on  Amer- 
ican affairs.  Peace,  necessary  to  our  country  before  the  astonish- 
ing events  which  have  recently  occurred  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  events  with  which  the  imagination  can  scarcely  keep 
pace,  will  doubtless  be  now  more  than  ever  demanded.  I  think, 
however,  you  attach  more  consequence  than  belongs  to  the  indi- 
cations in  the  Eastern  States.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  game  of 
swaggering  and  gasconade  has  been  played  oif  there,  without  any 
serious  intention  to  push  matters  to  extremity.  After  a  great 
deal  of  blustering  about  raising  20,000  men  and  declaring  the 
freedom  of  the  port  of  Boston,  a  meeting  of  the  malcontents 
there  determined  it  inexpedient  to  take  any  such  measure  during 
the  last  session  of  the  Legislature.  The  truth  is,  they  want 
men,  they  want  money,  the  principal  actors  want  courage.  Yet 
I  would  not  despise  these  appearances.  If  the  British  govern- 
ment should  determine  to  land  a  considerable  force  in  the  Eastern 
States,  avowing  friendship  to  them  and  an  intention  only  to  war 
with  the  Southern  States,  or  with  the  Administration,  certainly 
very  serious  consequences  might  ensue,  though  I  believe  they 
would  fall  far  short  of  conquest  or  dissolution.  .  .  . 

On  the  point  of  removing  the  place  of  negotiation  from  Got~ 
tenburg  to  Ghent  Mr.  Gallatin  was  successful,  and  perhaps  it 
was  on  the  whole  fortunate  that  he  was  disappointed  in  his  wish 
to  negotiate  at  London,  for  the  delays  consequent  on  the  distance 
of  Ghent  were  an  element  in  the  success  of  the  negotiation. 

Another  point  which  Mr.  Gallatin  pertinaciously  labored  to 
gain  was  the  active  aid  of  the  Emperor  Alexander.  What 
Komanzoff  had  been  unable  to  effect,  and  what  Moreau  had  died 
too  soon  to  accomplish,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  bent  upon  doing  by  other 
means.  Fortunately,  his  former  ally,  William  H.  Crawford,  had 


510  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

been  taken  by  Mr.  Madison  from  the  Senate  and  sent  as  minister 
to  Napoleon,  after  whose  fall  he  remained  in  Paris,  waiting  for 
new  credentials  and  for  recognition  from  Louis  XVIII.  As  a 
diplomate,  Mr.  Crawford  was  not  altogether  successful ;  his  tem- 
per and  manners  were  little  suited  to  the  very  delicate  situation 
in  which  he  was  placed ;  nevertheless  he  was  a  person  on  whose 
aid  Mr.  Gallatin  could  thoroughly  rely,  and  the  assistance  of 
La  Fayette  and  Humboldt  went  far  to  supply  his  deficiencies. 
Mr.  Gallatin,  therefore,  enrolled  him  also  in  the  service,  and 
wrote  at  some  length,  giving  him  a  sketch  of  the  situation  in 
much  the  same  language  used  in  the  letter  to  Mr.  Clay  of  the 
next  day,  but  with  a  different  conclusion. 

GALLATIN  TO   W.  H.  CRAWFORD. 

LONDON,  21  April,  1814. 

The  only  external  check  to  those  dispositions  [of  enmity  in 
England]  can  be  found  in  the  friendly  interposition  of  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  not  as  a  mediator,  but  as  a  common  friend, 
pressing  on  this  government  the  propriety  of  an  accommodation 
and  expressing  his  strong  wishes  for  a  general  restoration  of 
peace  to  the  civilized  world.  I  do  not  know  whether  your  situ- 
ation affords  you  means  of  approaching  him,  and  can  only  state 
my  opinion  of  the  great  importance  that  an  early  opportunity 
should  be  taken  by  you  or  any  other  person  you  may  think  fitted 
for  the  object,  to  call  his  attention  to  the  situation  in  which  we 
are  left,  and  to  the  great  weight  which  his  opinion  in  favor  of 
peace  on  liberal  conditions,  strongly  expressed  to  this  government, 
must  necessarily  have  at  this  time.  Of  his  friendly  disposition 
for  the  United  States  there  is  no  doubt ;  but  we  may  be  forgotten ; 
and  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  be  apprised  of  the  hostile  spirit 
which  prevails  here,  and  which,  if  not  balanced  by  some  other 
cause,  may  even  carry  ministers  beyond  their  own  wishes  and 
views.  It  should  also  be  stated  that  our  government  having 
accepted  one  year  ago  the  Emperor's  mediation,  and  not  having 
supposed  that,  considering  the  political  connection  between  him 
and  Great  Britain,  she  could  reject  that  offer,  no  other  provision 
was  made  on  our  part  to  obtain  peace  until  our  government  was 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  511 

apprised,  in  January  last,  of  the  rejection  of  the  mediation  by 
England.  Thus  was  a  delay  of  a  year  produced,  and  the  opening 
of  our  negotiations  unfortunately  prevented  till  after  England  is 
at  peace  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  a  circumstance  which, 
although  it  does  not  give  us  a  positive  right  to  claim  the  Empe- 
ror's interference,  affords  sufficient  ground  to  present  the  subject 
to  his  consideration.  I  entreat  you  to  lose  no  time  in  taking  such 
steps  as  may  be  in  your  power  in  that  respect,  and  to  write  to  me 
whatever  you  may  think  important  for  the  success  of  the  mission 
should  be  known  to  us.  ... 

On  the  13th  May,  Mr.  Crawford  replied  that  he  had  attempted 
to  carry  out  Mr.  Gallatin's  wishes,  and  had  received  a  polite  rebuff 
from  Count  Nesselrode  and  no  notice  whatever  from  the  Em- 
peror. He  added :  "  After  I  had  failed  in  obtaining  access  to 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  to  his  minister,  I  requested  General 
La  Fayette  to  endeavor,  through  Colonel  La  Harpe,  to  have  the 
proper  representations  made  to  Nesselrode  or  to  the  Emperor. 
Every  effort  to  effect  this  object  has  been  abortive.  It  seems  as 
if  there  had  been  a  settled  determination  to  prevent  the  approach 
of  every  person  who  is  suspected  of  an  attachment  to  the  United 
States.  The  general  has,  however,  come  in  contact  several  times 
with  Baron  Humboldt,  the  Prussian  minister,  who  has  imbibed 
already  the  British  misrepresentations." 

La  Fayette  soon  succeeded,  however,  in  breaking  down  these 
barriers  which  English  influence  had  raised  about  the  Emperor. 
On  the  25th  May  he  wrote :  "  Mr.  Crawford  is  better  qualified 
than  I  am  to  give  you  all  the  information  from  this  quarter  which 
relates  to  American  concerns.  The  confidence  with  which  he 
honors  my  zeal  has  enabled  me  to  discuss  the  matter  with  some 
influencing  characters  among  the  allied  generals  and  diplomates. 
Two  of  the  latter  act  a  great  part  in  the  present  negotiations.  I 
found  them  Avell  acquainted  with  British  arguments  and  impressed 
with  British  prejudices  which  convinced  me  that  care  had  been 
taken  to  influence  their  opinion.  An  opportunity  has  been  seeked, 
which  I  am  bound  not  to  name,  for  putting  directly  under  the 
eyes  of  Emperor  Alexander  a  note  of  Mr.  Crawford.  You  may 
depend  it  has  been  faithfully  delivered,  with  proper  comments, 


512  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

along  with  a  letter,  the  copy  of  which  Mr.  Crawford  has  desired 
me  to  enclose.  I  expect  this  evening  to  meet  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  at  a  friend's  house,  and  shall  try  to  obtain  some  conversa- 
tion on  the  subject." 

On  the  26th  May,  General  La  Fayette  wrote  the  following 
letter  to  Mr.  Crawford,  who  enclosed  it  on  the  28th  in  a  despatch 
to  Mr.  Gallatin. 


LA   FAYETTE   TO  W.  H.  CRAWFORD. 

26th  May,  1814. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  passed  the  last  evening  in  company  with 
the  Emperor  Alexander,  who,  however  prepossessed  in  his  favor, 
has  surpassed  my  expectations.  He  really  is  a  great,  good,  sen- 
sible, noble-minded  man,  and  a  sincere  friend  to  the  cause  of 
liberty.  We  have  long  conversed  upon  American  affairs.  It 
began  with  his  telling  me  that  he  had  read  with  much  pleasure 
and  interest  what  I  had  sent  him.  I  found  ideas  had  been  sug- 
gested that  had  excited  a  fear  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
had  not  properly  improved  their  internal  situation.  My  answer 
was  an  observation  upon  the  necessity  of  parties  in  a  common- 
wealth, and  the  assertion  that  they  were  the  happiest  and  freest 
people  upon  earth.  The  transactions  with  France  and  England 
were  explained  in  the  way  that,  although  the  United  States  had 
to  complain  of  both,  the  British  outrages  came  nearer  home,  par- 
ticularly in  the  affair  of  impressments.  He  spoke  of  the  actual 
preparation  and  the  hostile  dispositions  of  England.  I  of  course 
insisted  on  the  rejection  of  his  mediation,  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him  by  the  United  States  who  hastened  to  send  commissioners 
chosen  from  both  parties,  which  he  very  kindly  acknowledged. 
He  said  he  had  twice  attempted  to  bring  on  a  peace.  "  Do,  sir," 
said  I,  "  make  a  third  attempt ;  it  must  succeed ;  ne  vous  arretez 
pas  en  si  beau  chemin.  All  the  objects  of  a  war  at  an  end,  and 
the  re-establishment  of  their  old  limits  can  the  less  be  opposed  as 
the  Americans  have  gained  more  than  they  have  lost.  A  pro- 
traction of  the  war  would  betray  intentions  quite  perverse  and 
hostile  to  the  cause  of  humanity.  Your  personal  influence  must 
carry  the  point.  I  am  sure  your  majesty  will  exert  it."  "  Well," 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  513 

says  he,  "  I  promise  you  I  will.  My  journey  to  London  affords 
opportunities,  and  I  will  do  the  best  I  can."  I  told  him  I  had 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Gallatin,  now  in  London,  and  we 
spoke  of  him,  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Bayard,  and  the  two  new  com- 
missioners. I  had  also  other  occasions  to  speak  of  America ;  one 
afforded  me  by  the  Swedish  Marshal  Stadinck,  who  mentioned 
my  first  going  over  to  that  country ;  another  by  a  well-inten- 
tioned observation  of  Mme.  de  Stae'l  that  she  had  received  a  letter 
from  my  friend  Mr.  Jefferson,  of  whom  he  spoke  with  great 
regard.  This  led  to  observations  relative  to  the  United  States 
and  the  spirit  of  monopoly  in  England  extending  even  to  liberty 
itself.  The  Emperor  said  they  had  been  more  liberal  in  Sicily 
than  I  supposed  them.  I  did  not  deny  it,  but  expressed  my 
fears  of  their  protecting  Ferdinand  against  the  cortes.  His  sen- 
timents on  the  Spanish  affairs  were  noble  and  patriotic.  The 
slave-trade  became  a  topic  upon  which  he  spoke  with  philan- 
thropic warmth.  Its  abolition  will  be  an  article  in  the  general 
peace. 

You  see,  my  dear  sir,  I  had  fully  the  opportunity  we  were 
wishing  for.  If  it  has  not  been  well  improved,  the  fault  is 
mine.  But  I  think  some  good  has  been  done.  And  upon  the 
promise  of  a  man  so  candid  and  generous  I  have  full  depend- 
ence. If  you  think  proper  to  communicate  these  details  to  Mr. 
Gallatin,  be  pleased  to  have  them  copied.  He  spoke  very  well 
of  him,  and  seemed  satisfied  with  the  confidence  of  the  United 
States  and  the  choice  of  their  representatives  to  him.  By  his 
last  accounts  Mr.  Adams  was  at  St.  Petersburg.  The  particu- 
lars of  this  conversation  ought  not,  of  course,  to  be  published ; 
but  you  will  probably  think  it  useful  to  communicate  to  the 
commissioners. 

The  obstinate  determination  of  England  to  isolate  the  United 
States  and  cut  off  all  means  of  co-operation  between  her  and  the 
Baltic  powers  became  more  and  more  evident  as  the  season  ad- 
vanced, and  stimulated  Gallatin's  efforts.  On  the  2d  June  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Monroe  from  London :  "  I  have  remained  here 
waiting  for  the  answers  of  our  colleagues  at  Gottenburg,  an<J 
will  depart  as  soon  as  I  know  that  they  and  the  British  com- 

33 


514  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1814. 

missioners  are  on  their  way  to  the  appointed  place.  The  defin- 
itive treaty  of  European  peace  being  signed  and  ratified,  Lord 
Castlereagh  is  expected  here  this  day,  and  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  in  the  beginning  of  next  week.  I  enclose  copy  of  an 
extract  of  a  letter  of  Mr.  Crawford  to  me.  I  may  add  that  I 
have  ascertained  that  the  exclusion  of  all  discussions  respecting 
maritime  questions  and  of  any  interference  in  the  American 
contest  was  one  of  the  conditions  proposed  at  the  Chatillon 
conferences,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that,  with  respect  to 
the  first  point,  a  positive,  and  in  the  other  at  least  a  tacit,  agree- 
ment have  taken  place  in  the  late  and  final  European  negotiations 
at  Paris." 

Doubtless  one  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  objects  in  remaining  so  long 
in  London  was  to  have  a  personal  interview  with  the  Emperor. 
La  Fayette  wrote  to  him  from  Paris  on  the  3d  of  June,  recount- 
ing briefly  the  incidents  of  his  own  interview  with  the  Emperor 
at  the  house  of  Mme.  de  Stael,  and  urging  Mr.  Gallatin  to  see 
him :  "  You  may  begin  the  conversation  with  thanking  him  for 
the  intention  to  do  so  [to  serve  us]  to  the  best  of  his  power, 
which  he  very  positively  expressed  to  me.  Our  friend  Hum- 
boldt,  who  has  already  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject,  would  be 
happy  to  receive  your  directions  for  anything  in  his  power.  I 
hasten  to  scribble  this  letter  to  be  forwarded  by  him." 

The  Emperor  Alexander  came  to  London,  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
had  his  interview  on  the  17th  or  18th  June.  Of  this  inter- 
view Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  in  his  History  of  the  War  of  1812, 
has  given  a  somewhat  dramatic  account,  derived  perhaps  from 
Mr.  Levett  Harris,  who  had  been  secretary  to  the  mission  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  who,  being  now  in  London,  accompanied  Mr. 
Gallatin  to  the  audience.  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  in  that  work  so 
seldom  succeeded  in  stating  facts  with  correctness,  that  to  quote 
him  is  usually  to  mislead.  All  Mr.  Gallatin  ever  recorded  on 
the  subject  of  the  interview  is  contained  in  his  despatch  of 
June  20  to  Mr.  Monroe :  "  Mr.  Harris  and  myself  had  on  the 
17th  an  audience  from  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  His  friendly 
dispositions  for  the  United  States  are  unimpaired ;  he  earnestly 
wishes  that  peace  may  be  made  between  them  and  England ; 
but  he  does  not  give  or  seem  to  entertain  any  hope  that  he  can 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  515 

on  that  subject  be  of  any  service.  I  could  not  ascertain  whether 
he  had  touched  the  subject  since  he  had  been  here;  only  he  said, 
'  I  have  made  two — three  attempts/  If  three,  the  third  must 
have  been  now.  He  added,  '  England  will  not  admit  a  third 
party  to  interfere  in  her  disputes  with  you.  This  is  on  account 
of  your  former  relations  to  her  (the  colonial  state),  which  is  not 
yet  forgotten/  He  also  expressed  his  opinion  that,  with  respect 
to  conditions  of  peace,  the  difficulty  would  be  with  England 
and  not  with  us.  On  the  whole,  this  conversation  aiforded  no 
reason  to  alter  the  opinions  expressed  in  my  letter  of  13th  inst.1 
I  yesterday,  with  his  permission,  sent  him  a  note,  .  .  .  which 
contains  nothing  new  to  you,  and  which  will  not  probably  pro- 
duce any  effect."2 

To  these  facts  Mr.  Ingersoll  adds  some  details.  According 
to  him,  the  interview  took  place  on  the  18th,  the  day  when  the 
city  of  London  gave  its  great  banquet  to  the  allied  sovereigns  at 
Guildhall.  The  time  appointed  by  the  Emperor  for  his  audience 
was  the  hour  before  he  left  his  residence  in  Leicesterfields  to 
attend  the  entertainment;  and  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Harris 
drove  in  "  a  mean  and  solitary  hackney-coach,  with  a  permit," 
through  the  shouting  crowd,  unknown  and  unnoticed,  except  by 
an  occasional  jeer  and  a  hail  as  "  old  Blucher"  from  the  throng. 
The  Emperor's  words  are  not  given,  but  the  substance  was  that 
Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  associates  should  take  a  high  tone  and 
outbrag  the  British. 

The  reader  may  safely  assume  that  the  Emperor  said  nothing 
of  the  kind,  for  Alexander  was  not  a  man  to  indulge  in  imperti- 
nence. He  earnestly  wished  for  peace,  and  he  saw  how  small  a 
chance  there  was  of  obtaining  it.  He  doubtless  spoke  to  Mr. 
Gallatin  with  perfect  sincerity  of  his  wishes  and  his  acts;  he 
may  have  hinted  that  America  would  gain  little  by  showing  too 
great  eagerness  for  peace,  but  he  would  certainly  have  said 
nothing  which,  if  repeated,  could  possibly  have  offended  Eng- 
land. Indeed,  he  had  gone  to  the  extreme  verge  of  civility  in 
giving  any  audience  at  all  to  an  American  agent  while  he  was 


1  See  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  627,  and  below,  p.  517. 

2  See  this  note  in  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  629. 


516  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1814. 

himself  the  guest  of  the  country  with  which  America  was  then 
at  war. 

The  result  of  all  Mr.  Gallatin's  efforts  in  this  direction  was, 
therefore,  apparently  a  complete  failure.  The  power  of  England 
was  supreme  in  Europe,  and  whatever  irritation  the  continental 
sovereigns  may  have  felt  under  the  extravagant  maritime  preten- 
sions of  Great  Britain,  not  one  of  them  ventured  to  lisp  a  word 
of  remonstrance.  Yet  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  was  so  unsuccessful  as  he  seemed.  The  fate  of  the  negotia- 
tion at  Ghent  hung  on  Lord  Castlereagh's  nod,  and  among  the 
many  influences  which  affected  Lord  Castlereagh's  mind,  a  desire 
to  preserve  his  friendly  relations  with  Russia  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful.  The  moment  came  when  the  British  ministry  had 
to  decide  the  question  whether  to  let  the  treaty  fail  or  to  abate 
British  pretensions,  and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  repeated 
remonstrances  of  Russia  had  some  share  of  influence  in  causing 
England  to  recoil  from  a  persistent  policy  of  war.  At  the  crisis 
of  the  negotiation,  on  the  27th  September,  Lord  Liverpool  wrote 
to  Lord  Castlereagh,  who  was  then  at  Vienna,  advising  him  of 
the  capture  of  Washington  and  the  state  of  affairs  at  Ghent,  and 
adding :  "  The  Americans  have  assumed  hitherto  a  tone  in  the 
negotiation  very  different  from  what  their  situation  appears  to 
warrant.  In  the  exercise  of  your  discretion  as  to  how  much  you 
may  think  proper  to  disclose  of  what  has  been  passing  to  the 
sovereigns  and  ministers  whom  you  will  meet  at  Vienna,  I  have 
no  doubt  you  will  see  the  importance  of  adverting  to  this  circum- 
stance, and  of  doing  justice  to  the  moderation  with  which  we  are 
disposed  to  act  towards  America.  I  fear  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
is  half  an  American,  and  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  do  away 
any  prejudice  which  may  exist  in  his  mind  or  in  that  of  Count 
Nesselrode  on  this  subject/71 

While  Mr.  Gallatin  was  engaged  in  arranging  the  preliminaries 
of  negotiation  and  in  bringing  to  bear  on  the  British  ministry 
such  pressure  as  he  was  able  to  command,  he  did  not  neglect  to 
act  the  part  of  diplomatic  agent  for  the  instruction  of  his  own 


1  Supplementary  Despatches  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  vol.  ix.  pp. 
290-291. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  517 

government.  The  time  was  long  gone  by  when  Mr.  Gallatin 
and  his  party  had  declaimed  against  the  diplomatic  service. 
Mr.  Madison  had  now  sent  abroad  nearly  every  man  in  America 
whose  pretensions  to  civil  distinction  were  considerable.  There 
were  six  full  ministers  between  London,  Holland,  and  Paris,  and 
among  them  were  included  two  Senators,  the  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  position  of  Mr. 
Gallatin  in  London  was  particularly  delicate,  since  he  was  in  a 
manner  bound  not  to  betray  the  confidence  which  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  had  placed  in  him  by  permitting  his  residence  in  England* 
but  he  knew  little  more  of  military  movements  than  was  known 
to  all  the  world,  and  within  these  limits  he  might  without  im- 
propriety correspond  with  his  government.  Thus  his  well-known 
despatch  of  June  13  was  written.1  In  this  letter  he  gave  a  sketch 
of  the  whole  field  of  diplomatic  and  military  affairs.  Beginning 
with  the  announcement  that  England  was  fitting  out  an  armament 
which,  besides  providing  for  Canada,  would  enable  her  to  land 
at  least  15,000  to  20,000  men  on  the  Atlantic  coast;  that  the 
capture  of  Washington  and  New  York  would  most  gratify  them, 
and  the  occupation  of  Norfolk,  Baltimore,  &c.,  might  be  expected ; 
this  letter  continued : 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  object  and  duration  of  the  war,  America 
must  rely  on  her  resources  alone.  From  Europe  no  assistance 
can  for  some  time  be  expected.  British  pride  begins,  indeed,  to 
produce  its  usual  effect.  Seeds  of  dissension  are  not  wanting. 
Russia  and  England  may  at  the  approaching  Congress  of  Vienna 
be  at  variance  on  important  subjects,  particularly  as  relates  to  the 
aggrandizement  of  Austria.  But  questions  of  maritime  rights 
are  not  yet  attended  to,  and  America  is  generally  overlooked  by 
the  European  sovereigns,  or  viewed  with  suspicion.  Above  all, 
there  is  nowhere  any  navy  in  existence,  and  years  of  peace  must 
elapse  before  the  means  of  resisting  with  effect  the  sea-power  of 
Great  Britain  can  be  created.  In  a  word,  Europe  wants  peace, 
and  neither  will  nor  can  at  this  time  make  war  against  Great 
Britain.  The  friendly  disposition  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 
and  a  just  view  of  the  subject,  make  him  sincerely  desirous  that 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  i.  p.  627 ;  also  Ingersoll's  Late  War,  ii.  293. 


518  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

peace  should  be  restored  to  the  United  States.  He  may  use  his 
endeavors  for  that  purpose ;  beyond  that  he  will  not  go,  and  in 
that  it  is  not  probable  he  will  succeed.  I  have  also  the  most 
perfect  conviction  that,  under  the  existing  unpropitious  circum- 
stances of  the  world,  America  cannot  by  a  continuance  of  the 
war  compel  Great  Britain  to  yield  any  of  the  maritime  points  in 
dispute,  a-nd  particularly  to  agree  to  any  satisfactory  arrangement 
on  the  subject  of  impressment;  and  that  the  most  favorable 
terms  of  peace  that  can  be  expected  are  the  status  ante  helium, 
and  a  postponement  of  the  questions  of  blockade,  impressment, 
and  all  other  points  which  in  time  of  European  peace  are  not 
particularly  injurious ;  but  with  firmness  and  perseverance  those 
terms,  though  perhaps  unattainable  at  this  moment,  will  ulti- 
mately be  obtained,  provided  you  can  stand  the  shock  of  this 
campaign,  and  provided  the  people  will  remain  and  show  them- 
selves united."  .  .  . 

This  despatch  arrived  in  Washington  only  when  one  part  of 
its  advices  had  been  already  verified  by  the  capture  and  destruc- 
tion of  that  city.  Meanwhile  the  other  American  commissioners 
were  beginning  to  assemble  at  Ghent,  and  the  British  government 
showed  no  sign  of  haste  in  opening  the  negotiation.  Mr.  Gal- 
latin,  on  the  9th  June,  attempted  to  hurry  Lord  Castlereagh's 
movements  by  asking  when  the  British  commissioners  would  be 
ready.  He  was  told  they  would  start  for  Ghent  on  the  1st  July, 
and  on  the  strength  of  this  information  he  himself  left  London 
on  June  21,  and,  after  a  rapid  visit  to  Paris,  arrived  at  Ghent 
on  July  6. 

Nearly  three  months  had  Mr.  Gallatih  thus  passed  in  London, 
and,  after  all  his  efforts,  little  enough  had  been  attained.  His 
hopes  of  success  were  certainly  not  brighter  than  when  he  left 
America,  more  than  a  year  before ;  indeed,  it  was  not  easy  to 
deny  that  there  had  been  actual  loss  of  ground.  Mr.  Gallatin 
had  undertaken  a  diplomatic  tour  deforce,  and  thus  far  his  suc- 
cesses had  been  far  from  brilliant ;  his  failures  had  been  conspic- 
uous. Nevertheless  he  persisted  with  endless  patience  and  with 
his  usual  resource.  His  residence  in  London  could  not  but  be 
unpleasant,  and  perhaps  the  brightest  spot  in  his  whole  experi- 
ence there  was  the  meeting  with  his  old  friend  and  school-fellow 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  519 

Dumont,  the  Genevan,  whom  he  had  once  half  wished  to  tempt 
into  the  Ohio  wilderness,  but  who  had  remained  in  Europe  to 
float  on  the  waves  of  revolution  until  they  threw  him  into  the 
arms  of  Jeremy  Bentham,  whose  friend  and  interpreter  he  be- 
came. Through  him  Mr.  Gallatin  became  acquainted  with  Ben- 
tham, but  Gallatin  had  drifted  further  than  his  school-mate  from 
the  theorizing  tastes  of  his  youth,  and  he  now  found  quite  as 
much  satisfaction  in  discussing  finance  with  Alexander  Baring  as 
in  reforming  mankind  with  Bentham  and  Dumont. 

From  the  6th  July  till  the  6th  August  the  American  com- 
missioners waited  the  arrival  of  their  British  colleagues,  and 
amused  themselves  as  they  best  might.  This  delay  was  the 
more  irritating  to  Mr.  Gallatin  because  his  own  visit  to  Paris 
was  said  to  have  been  given  by  Lord  Castlereagh  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  on  the  20th  July,  as  an  excuse  for  the  delay  of 
the  British  commissioners.  The  conduct  of  the  English  gov- 
ernment promised  ill  for  the  success  of  the  mission,  and  it  was 
natural  that  the  Americans  should  believe  they  were  a  second 
time  to  be  made  the  victims  of  diplomacy.  This  inference  was 
not  necessarily  a  fair  one ;  the  motives  which  influenced  Lord 
Castlereagh  varied  from  day  to  day,  and  events  proved  that  he 
acted  more  shrewdly  in  the  interests  of  peace  than  Mr.  Gallatin 
imagined.  There  was  more  to  be  hoped  from  delay  than  from 
haste. 

At  last  the  British  commissioners  arrived:  Lord  Gambier, 
Henry  Goulburn,  and  William  Adams;  none  of  them  very 
remarkable  for  genius,  and  still  less  for  weight  of  influence ;  as 
compared  with  the  American  commissioners  they  were  unequal  to 
their  task.  This  again,  unpromising  as  it  looked,  was  not  really 
a  misfortune,  for  the  British  commissioners,  deficient  as  they 
were  in  ability,  polish  of  manners,  and  even  in  an  honest  wish 
for  peace,  were  the  mere  puppets  of  their  government,  and  never 
ventured  to  move  a  hair's-breadth  without  at  once  seeking  the 
approval  of  Lord  Castlereagh  or  Lord  Liverpool.  Mr.  Gallatin 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  them;  singly  or  together  he  was  as 
capable  of  dealing  with  them  as  Benjamin  Franklin,  under  very 
similar  conditions,  had  proved  himself  equal  to  dealing  with  their 
predecessors  thirty  years  before.  Gallatin's  great  difficulty  was 


520  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1814. 

the  same  with  which  Dr.  Franklin  had  struggled.  The  Amer- 
ican habit  of  negotiating  by  commissions  may  have  its  advantages 
for  government,  but  it  enormously  increases  the  labor  of  the 
agents,  for  it  compels  each  envoy  to  expend  more  effort  in  nego- 
tiating with  his  colleagues  in  the  commission  than  in  negotiating 
with  his  opponents.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  four  associates,  none  of 
whom  was  easily  managed,  and  two  of  whom,  Mr.  Adams  and 
Mr.  Clay,  acted  upon  each  other  as  explosives.  To  keep  the  peace 
between  them  was  no  easy  matter,  and  to  keep  the  peace  between 
them  and  the  Englishmen  was  a  task  almost  beyond  hope ;  indeed, 
Mr.  Gallatin's  own  temper  was  severely  tried  in  his  conversa- 
tions with  the  English  envoys,  and  perhaps  a  little  more  rough- 
ness on  his  part  would  have  been  better  understood  and  better 
received  by  them  than  his  patient  forbearance.  If  Gallatin  had 
a  fault,  it  was  that  of  using  the  razor  when  he  would  have  done 
better  with  the  axe. 

If  all  the  preliminaries  were  calculated  to  discourage,  the 
opening  of  the  negotiation  justified  something  worse  than  dis- 
couragement. Very  unwillingly  and  with  deep  mortification  the 
President  and  his  advisers  had  submitted  to  the  inevitable  and 
consented  to  offer  terms  of  peace  which  settled  no  one  principle 
for  which  they  had  fought.  They  had  agreed  to  what  was  in  fact 
an  armistice ;  restoration  of  the  status  ante  bellum ;  a  return  to 
the  old  condition  of  things  when  war  was  always  imminent  and 
American  rights  were  always  trampled  upon.  Now  that  Europe 
was  again  at  peace,  they  were  willing  to  leave  the  theoretical 
questions  of  belligerency  undetermined,  since  it  was  clear  that 
England  preferred  war  to  concession.  To  Mr.  Clay,  who  had 
made  the  war,  and  to  Mr.  Adams,  who  fully  sympathized  with 
Mr.  Clay  in  his  antipathy  to  the  English  domination,  these  con- 
cessions seemed  enormous;  even  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  always  the  friend 
of  peace,  they  seemed  to  reach  the  extreme  verge  of  dignity ;  but 
when  the  English  envoys  unfolded  their  demands,  the  mildest 
of  the  Americans  was  aghast;  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
there  was  not  an  outburst  of  indignation  on  the  spot,  and  that 
negotiation  did  not  end  the  day  it  began.  In  the  first  interview, 
which  took  place  on  August  8  and  was  continued  the  next  day, 
the  British  commissioners  required  as  a  preliminary  basis  of  dis- 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  521 

cussion  and  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  treaty  that  the  United  States 
government  should  set  apart  forever  for  the  Indian  tribes  the 
whole  North- West  Territory,  as  defined  by  the  treaty  of  Green- 
ville in  1795 ;  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  country  now  represented 
by  the  States  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois,  four-fifths 
of  Indiana,  and  one-third  of  Ohio ;  so  that  an  Indian  sovereignty 
should  be  constituted  in  that  region  under  the  guaranty  of  Great 
Britain,  for  the  double  purpose  of  interposing  neutral  territory 
between  Canada  and  the  United  States  and  curbing  the  progress 
of  the  latter.  Mr.  Gallatin  suggested  that  there  were  probably 
one  hundred  thousand  American  citizens  settled  within  that 
region,  and  what  was  to  become  of  them  ?  "  Undoubtedly  they 
must  shift  for  themselves,"  was  the  reply. 

In  comparison  with  so  enormous  a  pretension  the  smaller 
demands  of  the  British  government  were  of  trifling  importance, 
even  though  they  included  a  "  rectification"  of  the  frontier  and  a 
cession  of  Sackett's  Harbor  and  Fort  Niagara  as  a  guaranty  for 
the  British  control  of  the  lakes.1 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  path  of  the  American  commis- 
sioners was  plain.  They  had  no  opportunity  to  disagree  on  so 
simple  an  issue,  and  they  wanted  no  better  popular  argument  for 
unanimity  in  support  of  the  war  than  this  avowed  determina- 
tion to  dismember  the  United  States.  They  had  merely  to  draft 
their  rejection  of  the  British  sine  qua  non. 

The  negotiation  with  the  British  commissioners  was,  however, 
much  more  simple  than  the  negotiation  with  one  another;  of  the 
first  the  diplomatic  notes  and  protocols  give  a  fair  description, 
but  of  the  last  a  far  more  entertaining  account  is  given  in  the 
Diary  of  John  Quincy  Adams.  The  accident  which  placed  Mr. 
Gallatin  at  the  foot  of  the  commission  placed  Mr.  Adams  at  its 
head, — a  result  peculiarly  unfortunate,  because,  even  if  the  other 


1  See  Lord  Castlereagh's  instructions  of  August  14,  1814,  to  the  British 
commissioners  at  Ghent,  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  vol.  ii. 
p.  86  ff.  Also  Mr.  Goulburn's  acknowledgment  of  these  instructions  to 
Lord  Bathurst  of  21st  August,  Supplementary  Despatches  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  vol.  ix.  p.  188.  Lord  Liverpool  to  Lord  Bathurst,  llth  Sep- 
tember, ibid.,  p.  240.  Lord  Bathurst  to  the  commissioners,  18th  and  20th 
October,  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  vol.  ii.  pp.  168  and  172. 


522  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1814. 

commissioners  had  conceded  respect  to  the  age,  the  services,  and 
the  tact  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  they  had  no  idea  of  showing  any  such 
deference  to  Mr.  Adams.  From  the  outset  it  was  clear  that 
Messrs.  Bayard,  Clay,  and  Russell  meant  to  let  Mr.  Adams 
understand  that  though  he  might  be  the  nominal  mouth-piece 
he  was  not  the  autocrat  of  the  commission,  and  their  methods  of 
conveying  this  information  were  such  as  in  those  days  Mr.  Clay 
was  celebrated  for  successfully  using.  Mr.  Adams  had  little  of 
Mr.  Gallatin's  capacity  for  pacifying  strife;  he  was  by  nature 
as  combative  as  Mr.  Clay,  and  before  the  commission  separated 
there  were  exciting  and  very  amusing  scenes  of  collision,  in  one 
of  which  Mr.  Adams  plainly  intimated  his  opinion  of  the  con- 
duct of  his  colleagues,  and  Mr.  Clay  broke  out  upon  him  with : 
"  You  dare  not,  you  cannot,  you  SHALL  not  insinuate  that  there 
has  been  a  cabal  of  three  members  against  you." 

In  this  affair  Mr.  Gallatin's  situation  was  delicate  in  the 
highest  degree.  All  recognized  the  fact  that  he  was  properly 
head  of  the  mission ;  his  opinion  carried  most  weight ;  his  pen 
was  most  in  demand ;  his  voice  was  most  patiently  heard.  The 
tact  with  which  he  steered  his  way  between  the  shoals  that  sur- 
rounded him  is  the  most  remarkable  instance  in  our  history  of 
perfect  diplomatic  skill;  even  Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  very  similar 
situation,  had  not  the  same  success.  In  no  instance  did  Mr. 
Gallatin  allow  himself  to  be  drawn  into  the  conflicts  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  yet  he  succeeded  in  sustaining  Mr.,  Adams  in  every 
essential  point  without  appearing  to  do  so.  When  the  negotia- 
tion was  closed,  all  his  four  colleagues  were  united,  at  least  to 
outward  appearance,  in  cordiality  to  him,  and  Mr.  Adams  had 
reason  to  be,  and  seems  in  fact  always  to  have  been,  positively 
grateful.  If  Mr.  Clay  felt  differently,  as  there  was  afterwards 
reason  to  believe,  he  showed  no  such  feeling  at  the  time.  The 
story  as  told  in  Mr.  Adams's  Diary  proves  clearly  enough  that 
this  delicate  tact  of  Mr.  Gallatin  probably  saved  the  treaty. 

The  very  earliest  despatch  they  had  occasion  to  send  showed 
Mr.  Gallatin  the  delicacy  of  his  ground.  As  first  member  of 
the  commission,  Mr.  Adams  drafted  this  despatch  and  gave  his 
draft  for  revision  to  the  other  gentlemen,  who  showed  it  little 
mercy;  Mr.  Bayard  used  it  merely  as  the  foundation  for  an 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  523 

entirely  new  draft  of  his  own,  which  was  substituted  by  the 
commission  for  that  of  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Bayard's  essay,  how- 
ever, proved  to  be  little  more  satisfactory  than  Mr.  Adams's, 
and  at  last  it  was  referred  to  Mr.  Gallatin  to  be  put  in  final 
shape.  This  was  done,  and  the  commissioners  ended  by  adopting 
his  work.  The  next  despatch  was  drafted  at  once  by  him  and 
accepted  with  little  alteration.  Henceforth  the  duty  of  drawing 
up  all  papers  was  regularly  performed  by  him.  Mr.  Adams's 
account  of  the  characteristic  criticisms  of  his  four  colleagues,  as 
well  as  of  his  own  peculiarities  of  thought  and  expression,  is  very 
amusing,  and  probably  very  exact.  "  On  the  general  view  of  the 
subject  [of  the  note  in  reply  to  the  British  commissioners]  we  are 
unanimous,  but,  in  my  exposition  of  it,  one  objects  to  the  form 
and  another  to  the  substance  of  almost  every  paragraph.  Mr. 
Gallatin  is  for  striking  out  every  expression  that  may  be  offensive 
to  the  feelings  of  the  adverse  party.  Mr.  Clay  is  displeased  with 
figurative  language,  which  he  thinks  improper  for  a  state  paper. 
Mr.  Russell,  agreeing  in  the  objections  of  the  two  other  gentle- 
men, will  be  further  for  amending  the  construction  of  every 
sentence ;  and  Mr.  Bayard,  even  when  agreeing  to  say  precisely 
the  same  thing,  chooses  to  say  it  only  in  his  own  language." 

At  this  moment,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  10th  August  to  the 
8th  October,  it  was  a  matter  of  little  consequence  what  form 
these  personal  annoyances  might  take,  for  no  doubt  was  felt  by 
any  of  the  commissioners  that  negotiation  was  at  an  end.  Even 
Mr.  Gallatin  abandoned  hope.  That  the  British  government 
was  really  disposed  to  make  peace  seemed  to  him,  as  to  his  col- 
leagues, too  improbable  to  be  worth  discussion.  On  the  20th 
August  he  wrote  privately  to  Mr.  Monroe :  "  The  negotiations  at 
this  place  will  have  the  result  which  I  have  anticipated.  In  one 
respect,  however,  I  had  been  mistaken.  I  had  supposed  whilst 
in  England  that  the  British  ministry,  in  continuing  the  war, 
yielded  to  the  popular  sentiment,  and  were  only  desirous  of 
giving  some  £clat  to  the  termination  of  hostilities,  and,  by  pred- 
atory attacks,  of  inflicting  gratuitous  injury  on  the  United  States. 
It  appears  now  certain  that  they  have  more  serious  and  danger- 
ous objects  in  view."  After  dwelling  at  some  length  on  the 
indications  that  pointed  to  New  Orleans  as  the  spot  where  the 


524  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

ultimate  struggle  for  supremacy  was  to  come,  he  concluded :  "  I 
do  not  expect  that  we  can  be  detained  more  than  two  or  three 
weeks  longer  for  the  purpose  either  of  closing  the  negotiation,  of 
taking  every  other  necessary  step  connected  with  it,  and  of 
making  all  the  arrangements  for  our  departure."  To  Mr.  Dal- 
las he  wrote  the  same  day :  "Our  negotiations  may  be  considered 
as  at  an  end.  Some  official  notes  may  yet  pass,  but  the  nature 
of  the  demands  of  the  British,  made  also  as  a  preliminary  sine 
qua  non,  to  be  admitted  as  a  basis  before  a  discussion,  is  such  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  a  speedy  rupture  of  our  conferences,  and 
that  we  will  have  no  peace.  Great  Britain  wants  war  in  order  to 
cripple  us ;  she  wants  aggrandizement  at  our  expense ;  she  may 
have  ulterior  objects :  no  resource  left  but  in  union  and  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war.  When  her  terms  are  known  it  appears 
to  me  impossible  that  all  America  should  not  unite  in  defence  of 
her  rights,  of  her  territory,  I  may  say  of  her  independence.  I 
do  not  expect  to  be  longer  than  three  weeks  in  Europe." 

Nevertheless,  the  three  weeks  passed  without  bringing  the 
expected  rupture.  None  of  the  American  envoys  knew  the 
reasons  of  this  delay;  but  the  letters  of  the  British  negotia- 
tors, since  published,  explain  the  steps  in  that  backward  move- 
ment which  at  last  brought  about  an  abandonment  of  every 
point  the  British  government  had  begun  by  declaring  essential. 
Mr.  Goulburn,  who  from  the  first  was  strongly  inclined  to 
obstruct  a  settlement  and  to  put  forward  impossible  conditions,1 
announced  to  his  chief  on  the  23d  August:  "We  are  still 
without  any  answer  to  the  note  which  we  addressed  to  the 
American  plenipotentiaries  on  Friday  last.  We  have,  however, 
met  them  to-day  at  dinner  at  the  intendant's,  and  it  is  evident 
from  their  conversation  that  they  do  not  mean  to  continue  the 
negotiations  at  present.  Mr.  Clay,  whom  I  sat  next  to  at  dinner, 
gave  me  clearly  to  understand  that  they  had  decided  upon  a 
reference  to  America  for  instructions,  and  that  they  considered 
our  propositions  equivalent  to  a  demand  for  the  cession  of  Boston 
or  New  York ;  and  after  dinner  Mr.  Bayard  took  me  aside  and 


1  See  his  letter  of  August  21  to  Earl  Bathurst,  Wellington  Sup.  Desp., 
ix.  188. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  525 

requested  that  I  would  permit  him  to  have  a  little  private  and 
confidential  conversation.  Upon  my  expressing  my  readiness 
to  hear  whatever  he  might  like  to  say  to  me,  he  began  a  very 
long  speech  by  saying  that  the  present  negotiation  could  not  end 
in  peace,  and  that  he  was  desirous  of  privately  stating  (before 
we  separated)  what  Great  Britain  did  not  appear  to  understand, 
viz.,  that,  by  proposing  terms  like  those  which  had  been  offered, 
we  were  not  only  ruining  all  prospects  of  peace,  but  were  sacri- 
ficing the  party  of  which  he  was  a  member  to  their  political 
adversaries.  He  went  into  a  long  discussion  upon  the  views 
and  objects  of  the  several  parties  in  America,  the  grounds  upon 
which  they  had  hitherto  proceeded,  and  the  effect  which  a  hostile 
or  conciliatory  disposition  on  our  part  might  have  upon  them. 
He  inculcated  how  much  it  was  for  our  interest  to  support  the 
Federalists,  and  that  to  make  peace  was  the  only  method  of 
supporting  them  effectually;  that  we  had  nothing  to  fear  for 
Canada  if  peace  were  made,  be  the  terms  what  they  might;  that 
there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  about  allegiance,  impress- 
ment, &c. ;  but  that  our  present  demands  were  what  America 
never  could  or  would  accede  to.  This  was  the  general  tenor  of 
his  conversation,  to  which  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  make 
much  reply,  and  which  I  only  mention  to  you  in  order  to  let 
you  know  at  the  earliest  moment  that  the  negotiation  is  not 
likely  now  to  continue.  .  .  .  As  I  find,  upon  reading  over  what 
I  have  written,  that  I  have  drily  stated  what  the  American 
plenipotentiaries  said  to  me,  I  cannot  let  it  go  without  adding 
that  it  has  made  not  the  least  impression  upon  me  or  upon  my 
colleagues,  to  whom  I  have  reported  it." 

If  the  notes  and  conversation  of  the  American  commissioners 
made  no  impression  on  Mr.  Goulburn  and  his  colleagues,  the 
case  was  very  different  with  their  chiefs.  A  few  days  before 
Mr.  Goulburn's  letter  was  written,  Lord  Castlereagh  passed 
through  Ghent  on  his  way  to  Vienna.  He  found  that  Goul- 
burn had  made  a  series  of  blunders,  and  was  obliged  to  check 
him  abruptly,1  writing  at  the  same  time  to  Lord  Liverpool, 


1  See  his  letter  to  Goulburn  of  August  28,  1814,  Castlereagh  Correspond- 
ence, 3d  Series,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 


526  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIK  1814. 

advising  a  considerable  "letting  down  of  the  question."1  Lord 
Liverpool  replied  on  the  2d  September,  saying  that  his  advice 
had  already  been  followed :  "  Our  commissioners  had  certainly 
taken  a  very  erroneous  view  of  our  policy.  If  the  negotiation 
had  been  allowed  to  break  off  upon  the  two  notes  already  pre- 
sented, or  upon  such  an  answer  as  they  were  disposed  to  return, 
I  am  satisfied  the  war  would  have  become  quite  popular  in 
America."2  Mr.  Goulburn  himself  became  a  little  nervous; 
he  wrote  on  the  2d  September  of  the  American  commissioners : 
"Their  only  anxiety  appears  to  me  to  get  back  to  America. 
Whenever  we  meet  them  they  always  enter  into  unofficial  dis- 
cussions, much  of  the  same  nature  as  the  conversation  with 
which  Mr.  Bayard  indulged  me;  but  we  have  given  no  en- 
couragement to  such  conversations,  thinking  that  they  are  liable 
to  much  misrepresentation  and  cannot  lead  to  any  good  purpose. 
All  that  I  think  I  have  learnt  from  them  is  this :  that  Mr. 
Adams  is  a  very  bad  arguer,  and  that  the  Federalists  are  quite 
as  inveterate  enemies  to  us  as  the  Madisonians.  Those  who 
know  anything  of  America  or  Americans  probably  knew  this 
before.  We  await  with  some  anxiety  your  note." 3  On  the  5th 
September,  only  three  days  afterwards,  Mr.  Goulburn's  temper, 
in  view  of  the  awkward  position  he  was  in,  had  become  irri- 
table ;  the  American  commissioners  had  never,  he  thought,  had 
any  intention  of  making  peace:  "They  gave  it  out  all  over  the 
town  (previously  even  to  sending  their  note)  that  the  negotiations 
would  end  in  nothing,  and  I  have  never  met  them  anywhere 
without  hearing  their  complaints  at  being  detained  here,  and 
their  wish  to  leave  the  place  on  the  1st  of  October  at  the  latest. 
Some  days  since  they  gave  their  landlord  notice  that  they  meant 
to  quit  their  house,  and  two  of  their  private  secretaries  set 
out  to  make  a  tour  in  England  before  their  note  was  written, 
one  of  whom  openly  stated  to  me  that,  as  they  were  on  the 
point  of  returning  to  America,  he  wished,  first  of  all,  to  see 
London."4 

1  Castlereagh  to  Liverpool,  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  vol.  ii.  p.  100. 
8  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  214. 

8  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  217:  Goulburn  to  Lord  Balhurst. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  222. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  527 

The  result  of  the  first  round  in  this  encounter  was  clearly  in 
favor  of  the  American  champions.  The  unfortunate  Goulburn 
was  worsted,  and  forced,  •  with  very  bad  grace,  to  accept  the 
admonitions  of  his  chiefs  and  to  endure  the  triumph  of  his 
opponents. 

Lord  Bathurst  accordingly  undertook  to  correct  the  mistakes 
of  his  envoys,  and  forwarded  on  the  1st  September  an  argu- 
mentative note  calculated  to  persuade  the  Americans  that  nothing 
could  be  more  becoming  in  them  than  to  surrender  the  lakes  to 
Great  Britain  and  the  North- West  Territory  to  the  Indians.  The 
long  reply  of  the  American  commissioners,  delivered  on  the  9th 
September,  was  mostly  written  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  Mr.  Adams 
candidly  says  in  his  Diary  :  "  I  struck  out  the  greatest  part  of 
my  own  previous  draft,  preferring  that  of  Mr.  Gallatin  upon 
the  same  points."  Its  contents  were  briefly  characterized  in  a 
short  note  from  the  Foreign  Office  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
dated  September  13 :  "It  rejects  all  our  proposals  respecting  the 
boundary  and  the  military  flag  on  the  lakes,  and  refuses  even 
to  refer  them  to  their  government,  offering  at  the  same  time  to 
pursue  the  negotiation  on  the  other  points ;"  and  on  the  16th  the 
Duke  was  notified  that :  "  We  mean  in  our  reply  to  admit  that 
we  do  not  intend  to  make  the  exclusive  military  possession  of  the 
lakes  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  negotiation."  This  was,  however,  not 
the  only  concession ;  the  new  ground  which  Lord  Bathurst  now 
marked  out  for  his  negotiators  was  still  further  in  the  rear  of  Mr. 
Goulburn's  first  position,  and  abandoned  not  only  the  lakes  but 
also  the  attempt  to  create  an  Indian  sovereignty.  The  British 
note  was  sent  in  on  the  19th  September,  and  Mr.  Adams  gives  in 
his  Diary  a  graphic  account  of  the  conflicting  feelings  it  aroused : 
"  The  effect  of  these  notes  upon  us  when  they  first  come  is  to 
deject  us  all.  We  so  fondly  cling  to  the  vain  hope  of  peace  that 
every  new  proof  of  its  impossibility  operates  upon  us  as  a  disap- 
pointment. We  had  a  desultory  and  general  conversation  upon 
this  note,  in  which  I  thought  both  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Bayard 
showed  symptoms  of  despondency.  In  discussing  with  them  I 
cannot  always  restrain  the  irritability  of  my  temper.  Mr.  Bayard 
meets  it  with  more  of  accommodation  than  heretofore,  and  some- 
times with  more  compliance  than  I  expect.  Mr.  Gallatin,  having 


528  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GAL  LATIN.  1814 

more  pliability  of  character  and  more  playfulness  of  disposition, 
throws  off  my  heat  with  a  joke.  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Russell  are 
perfectly  firm  themselves,  but  sometimes  partake  of  the  staggers 
of  the  two  other  gentlemen.  Mr.  Gallatin  said  this  day  that  the 
sine  qua  non  now  presented — that  the  Indians  should  be  posi- 
tively included  in  the  peace,  and  placed  in  the  state  they  were  in 
before  the  war — would  undoubtedly  be  rejected  by  our  govern- 
ment if  it  was  now  presented  to  them,  but  that  it  was  a  bad 
point  for  us  to  break  off  the  negotiation  upon;  that  the  difficulty 
of  carrying  on  the  war  might  compel  us  to  admit  the  principle  at 
last,  for  now  the  British  had  so  committed  themselves  with  regard 
to  the  Indians  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  further  to  retreat. 
Mr.  Bayard  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  recurred  to  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  breaking  off  upon  some  point  which  shall  unite 
our  own  people  in  the  support  of  the  war.  ...  I  said  .  .  .  that 
if  the  point  of  the  Indians  was  a  bad  point  to  break  upon,  I  was 
very  sure  we  should  never  find  a  good  one ;  if  that  would  not 
unite  our  people,  it  was  a  hopeless  pursuit.  Mr.  Gallatin  repeated, 
with  a  very  earnest  look,  that  it  was  a  bad  point  to  break  upon. 
'  Then/  said  I,  with  a  movement  of  impatience  and  an  angry 
tone, '  it  is  a  good  point  to  admit  the  British  as  the  sovereigns  and 
protectors  of  our  Indians/  Gallatin's  countenance  brightened, 
and  he  said  in  a  tone  of  perfect  good  humor,  '  That's  a  non- 
sequitur.'  This  turned  the  edge  of  the  argument  into  mere 
jocularity.  I  laughed,  and  insisted  that  it  was  a  sequitur,  and 
the  conversation  easily  changed  to  another  point." 

Mr.  Gallatin  was  right,  and  he  drafted  the  reply  to  the  British 
note  accordingly.  There  was  a  somewhat  warm  discussion  over 
his  draft,  but  his  influence  was  now  so  decisive  that  Mr.  Adams 
declares  opposition  useless;  unless  Gallatin  voluntarily  abandoned 
his  point,  he  was  uniformly  sustained.  This  note,  while  refusing 
to  admit  the  Indians  into  the  treaty  in  any  manner  that  would 
recognize  them  as  independent  nations,  offered  a  stipulation  that 
they  should  retain  all  their  old  rights,  privileges,  and  possessions. 
It  was  signed  and  sent  on  the  26th  September ;  on  October  1 
the  news  of  the  capture  of  Washington  arrived. 

The  following  letters  give  some  conception  of  what  was 
passing  in  the  United  States  while  the  American  commissioners 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  529 

were   forcing   Great   Britain   to    abandon    one    position   after 
another : 

MRS.  MADISON   TO   MRS.  GALLATIN. 

28th  July,  1814. 

.  .  .  We  have  been  in  a  state  of  perturbation  here  for  a  long 
time.  The  depredations  of  the  enemy  approaching  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  city,  and  the  disaffected  making  incessant  difficulties 
for  the  government.  Such  a  place  as  this  has  become  !  I  can- 
not describe  it.  I  wish  for  my  own  part  we  were  at  Philadel- 
phia. The  people  here  do  not  deserve  that  I  should  prefer  it. 
Among  other  exclamations  and  threats,  they  say,  if  Mr.  M.  at- 
tempts to  move  from  this  house,  in  case  of  an  attack,  they  will 
stop  him,  and  that  he  shall  fall  with  it.  I  am  not  the  least 
alarmed  at  these  things,  but  entirely  disgusted,  and  determined 
to  stay  with  him.  Our  preparation  for  defence,  by  some  means 
or  other,  is  constantly  retarded,  but  the  small  force  the  British 
have  on  the  bay  will  never  venture  nearer  than  at  present, 
twenty-three  miles.  .  .  . 

JOSEPH  H.  NICHOLSON  TO  MRS.  GALLATIN. 

BALTIMORE,  4th  September,  1814. 

MY  DEAR  MADAM, —  .  .  .  You  have  of  course  heard  of  and 
grieved  over  our  disasters  at  Washington.  You  have  heard,  too, 
of  the  disgraceful  capitulation  of  Alexandria.  Baltimore  was 
at  one  time  certainly  prepared  to  pursue  the  baneful  example, 
but  the  arrival  of  Rodgers,  Porter,  and  Perry,  the  manly  lan- 
guage which  they  held  to  our  generals,  and  the  great  number  of 
troops  which  are  now  here,  have  inspired  more  confidence.  If 
the  enemy  had  acted  wisely  they  would  have  marched  directly 
from  Washington  to  this  place,  and  would  have  found  it  an  easy 
prey.  If  they  come  now,  which  we  look  for  daily,  or  rather 
nightly,  they  will  have  a  fight,  but  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  it 
will  be  a  hard  one.  Our  militia  are  so  raw  and  so  totally  un- 
disciplined, and  our  commanding  generals  so  entirely  unqualified 
to  organize  them,  that  I  have  very  little  confidence  of  success. 
The  command  has  been  taken  from  General  Winder  and  given 

34 


530  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

to  General  Smith.  The  latter  assumed  it  in  the  first  instance 
without  authority  at  the  request  of  some  of  our  citizens,  and  the 
usurpation  has  since  been  confirmed  at  Washington.  There  is 
some  derangement  of  the  Administration  which  I  do  not  under- 
stand. General  Armstrong  is  here,  and  says  he  is  no  longer 
Secretary  of  War ;  but  every  one  who  comes  from  the  city  says 
he  is  still  considered  so  there.  He  explained  the  thing  to  me  in 
this  way.  Mr.  Madison  had  been  waited  on  by  a  deputation 
from  Georgetown,  of  whom  A.  C.  Hanson  was  one,  who  told 
him  that  they  would  not  agree  to  defend  the  place  or  to  make 
any  resistance  if  General  Armstrong  was  to  have  any  control 
over  them.  That  Mr.  Madison,  in  consequence  of  this  and  much 
other  remonstrance  of  a  similar  nature,  proposed  to  Armstrong 
that  he  should  do  all  the  business  of  the  War  Department  ex- 
cept that  which  related  to  the  District ;  that  Armstrong  imme- 
diately answered  that  he  must  do  the  whole  business  or  none,  and 
tendered  his  resignation,  which  was  not  accepted.  He  added, 
however,  in  his  conversation  with  me :  "  I  am  here,  and  the  Presi- 
dent is  in  Washington."  He  said,  too,  he  was  going  immediately 
to  New  York ;  but  he  has  remained  several  days,  and  is  here  yet. 
I  had  thought  it  probable  he  was  waiting  for  a  recall,  but  he  said 
yesterday  he  should  go  to-day,  and  expressed  some  satisfaction 
at  being  again  in  private  life.  This  seemed  to  relate  altogether 
to  his  pecuniary  concerns.  He  speaks  with  no  irritation  of  the 
Administration,  and  it  is  certain  that  either  he  or  Mr.  Madison, 
or  possibly  both,  have  yielded  to  a  contemptible  faction  in  a  con- 
temptible village,  at  a  most  critical  moment  for  our  country. 
This  is  the  precise  language  in  which  I  expressed  myself  to  him, 
but  he  said  he  washed  his  hands  of  it. 

The  loan  is  taken  in  part  only  at  $80  for  $100,  and,  I  believe, 
a  small  part.  If  Congress  do  not  act  immediately  with  vigor, 
the  nation,  I  fear,  is  lost. 

Did  you  feel  very,  very  sorry  at  hearing  that  your  old  house 
was  burnt?  I  did,  really,  I  had  spent  so  many  happy  hours 
in  it. 

A  short  correspondence  with  Mme.  de  Stael,  then  a  power  in 
diplomacy,  claims  also  a  place  here. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  531 


MADAME   DE   STAEL   TO  GALLATIN. 

Ce  31  juillet,  1814. 
COPPET,  STJISSE,  PAYS  DE  VAUD. 

Vous  m'avez  permis  de  vous  demander  si  nous  avons  quelque 
succes  heureux  a  esperer  de  votre  mission.  Mandez-moi  a  cet 
6gard,  my  dear  sir,  tout  ce  qu'il  vous  est  permis  de  me  dire.  Je 
suis  inquire  d'un  mot  de  Lord  Castlereagh  sur  la  dure"e  de  la 
guerre,  et  je  ne  m'explique  pas  pourquoi  il  a  dit  qu'il  6tait  de 
Finteret  de  FAngleterre  que  le  congres  de  Vienne  s'ouvrit  plus 
tard.  C'est  vous  Amerique  qui  rn'mtSressez  avant  tout  mainte- 
nant,  a  part  de  mes  affaires  pecuniaires.  Je  vous  trouve  a  pre"- 
sent  les  opprime's  du  parti  de  la  liberte"  et  je  vois  en  vous  la  cause 
qui  m'attachait  a  FAngleterre  il  y  a  un  an.  On  souhaite  beau- 
coup  de  vous  voir  a  Geneve  et  vous  y  trouverez  la  rSpublique 
telle  que  vous  Favez  laissSe,  seulement  elle  est  moins  libe>ale,  car 
la  mode  est  ainsi  maintenant  en  Suisse.  Aussi  les  vieux  aristo- 
crates  se  relevent  et  se  remettent  a  combattre,  en  oubliant,  comme 
les  geants  de  FArioste,  qu'ils  sont  deja  morts.  J?esp5re  que  la 
raison  triomphera,  et  quand  on  vous  connait,  on  trouve  cette 
raison  si  spirituelle  qu'elle  semble  la  plus  forte.  Soyez  pacifique 
cependant  et  sacrifiez  aux  circonstances.  Vous  devez  vous  en- 
nuyer  a  Gand,  et  je  voudrais  profiter  pour  causer  avec  vous  de 
tout  le  temps  que  vous  y  perdez.  Avez-vous  quelques  commis- 
sions a  faire  a  Geneve  et  voulez-vous  me  donner  le  plaisir  de 
vous  y  £tre  utile  en  quelque  chose  ? 

Mille  compliments  empresses. 

Vous  savez  que  M.  Sismondi  vous  a  loue"  dans  son  discours  & 
St.  Pierre. 

MADAME  DE   STAEL   TO   GALLATIN. 

Ce  30  septembre. 
PARIS,  RUE  DE  GRENELLE  ST.  GERM AIN,  No.  105. 

Je  vous  ai  e"crit  de  Coppet,  my  dear  sir,  et  je  n'ai  point  eu  de 
reponse  de  vous.  Je  crains  que  ma  lettre  ne  vous  soit  pas  par- 
venue.  Soyez  assez  bon  pour  me  dire  ce  que  vous  pouvez  me 
dire  sur  la  vente  de  mes  fonds  en  Amerique.  Je  suis  si  inquiete 


532  LIFE     OF    ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1814. 

que  Fidee  me  venait  d'envoyer  mon  fils  en  Ain4rique  pour  tirer 
ma  fortune  de  la.  Songez  qu'elle  y  est  presque  toute  entiere, 
c'est  a  dire  que  j'y  ai  quinze  cents  mille  francs,  soit  en  terres, 
soit  en  fonds  publics,  soit  chez  les  banquiers.  Soyez  aussi  assez 
bon  pour  me  dire  si  vous  restez  a  Gand.  Mon  fils  en  allant  en 
Angleterre  pourrait  passer  par  chez  vous  et  vous  donner  des 
nouvelles  de  Paris.  Enfin  je  vous  prie  de  m'accorder  quelques 
lignes  sur  tout  ce  qui  m'interesse.  Vous  pouvez  compter  sur 
ma  discretion  et  sur  ma  reconnaissance, — et  je  merite  peut-etre 
quelque  bienveillance  par  mes  efforts  pour  vous  servir.  Lord 
Wellington  pretend  que  je  ne  le  vois  jamais  sans  le  precher  sur 
FAme'rique.  Vous  savez  de  quelle  haute  consideration  je  suis 
pe'ne'tre'e  pour  votre  esprit  et  votre  caractere. 

Mille  compliments. 


GALLATIN   TO   MADAME  DE    STAEL-HOLSTEIN. 

GAND,  4  octobre,  1814. 

Ce  n'est  que  hier,  my  dear  madam,  que  j'ai  repu  votre  lettre 
du  23  septembre;  celle  que  vous  m'aviez  fait  le  plaisir  de  m'ecrire 
de  Coppet  m'&ait  bien  parvenue;  mais  malgre  la  parfaite  con- 
fiance  que  vous  m'avez  inspiree,  il  6tait  de  mon  devoir  de  ne  rien 
laisser  transpirer  de  nos  negociations ;  et  j'espe"rais  tous  les  jours 
pouvoir  vous  annoncer  le  lendemain  quelque  chose  de  positif. 
Nous  sommes  toujours  dans  le  memc  etat  d'incer.titude,  mais  il  me 
parait  impossible  que  cela  puisse  durer  longtemps,  et  je  vous  pro- 
mets  que  vous  serez  la  premiere  instruite  du  resultat.  Malgr6  les 
facheux  auspices  sous  lesquels  nous  avions  commence  a  traiter,  je 
n'avais  point  perdu  Fesp^rance  de  pouvoir  reussir.  II  faut  cepen- 
dant  convenir  que  ce  qui  s'est  passe"  a  la  prise  de  Washington 
pent  faire  naitre  de  nouveaux  obstacles  a  la  paix.  Une  incur- 
sion momentanee  et  la  destruction  d'un  arsenal  et  d'une  frigate 
ne  sont  qu'une  bagatelle ;  mais  faire  sauter  ou  bruler  les  palais 
du  Congr£s  et  du  President,  et  les  bureaux  des  differents  departe- 
ments,  c'est  un  acte  de  vandalisme  dont  la  guerre  de  vingt  ans 
en  Europe,  depuis  les  frontieres  de  la  Russie  jusques  a  Paris  et 
de  celles  du  Danemarc  jusqu'a  Naples,  n'offre  aucun  exemple,  et 
qui  doit  ne"cessairement  exasp^rer  les  esprits.  Est-ce  parceque  ^ 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  533 

Fexception  de  quelques  cathe'drales,  FAngleterre  n'avoit  aucun 
edifice  public  qui  put  leur  6tre  compart?  Ou  serait-ce  pour 
consoler  la  populace  de  la  cit6  de  Londres  de  ce  que  Paris  n'a 
6t6  ni  pille"  ni  brule"  ? 

Tout  en  vous  disant  cela,  je  ne  me  plains  point  de  la  conduite 
des  Anglais,  qui,  si  la  guerre  continue,  loin  de  nous  nuire,  n'aura 
servi  qu'a  unir  et  animer  la  nation.  Sous  ce  point  de  vue,  la 
maniere  dont  on  nous  fait  la  guerre  doit  pleinement  rassurer  ceux 
qui  avaient  des  craintes  mal  fondees  sur  la  permanence  de  notre 
union  et  de  notre  gouvernement  fe"de"ratif.  Et  il  n'y  a  qu'une 
dissolution  totale  qui  puisse  renverser  nos  finances  et  nous  faire 
manquer  a  nos  engagements.  Je  coniprends  cependant  fort  bien 
que  lorsqu'on  n'est  pas  Am6ricain,  Ton  d6sirerait  dans  ce  moment 
avoir  sa  fortune  ailleurs  que  dans  ce  pays  la ;  je  puis  avoir  des 
prejuge"s  trop  favorables  et  ne  voudrais  aucunement  vous  induire 
en  erreur.  Mais  il  me  semble  que  vendre  vos  fonds  &  15  ou  20 
pour  cent  de  perte  serait  un  sacrifice  inutile.  Us  tomberont 
probablement  encore  plus  si  la  guerre  continue,  mais  les  inter&s 
seront  toujours  fidelement  pay 4s  et  le  capital  sera  au  pair  six  mois 
apres  la  paix.  Nous  nous  sommes  tires  d'une  bien  plus  mauvaise 
situation.  A  la  fin  de  la  guerre  de  Find6pendance  nous  n'avions 
ni  finances  ni  gouvernement ;  notre  population  ne  s'elevait  qu'& 
environ  trois  millions  et  demi,  la  nation  4tait  extremement 
pauvre,  la  dette  publique  6tait  presqu'Sgale  a  ce  qu'elle  est  actu- 
ellement ;  les  fonds  perdaient  de  80  a  85  pour  cent.  Nous  n'avons 
cependant  pas  fait  faillite ;  nous  n'avons  pas  r^duit  la  dette  a  un 
tiers  par  un  trait  de  plume  ;  avec  de  Pe'conomie  et  surtout  de  la 
probit^,  nous  avons  fait  face  a  tout,  remis  tout  au  pair,  et  pendant 
les  dix  ann£es  qui  avaient  pre"c6d6  la  guerre  actuelle  nous  avions 
pay6  la  moiti4  du  capital  de  notre  ancienne  dette.  Au  milieu  de 
toutes  nos  factions,  n'importe  quel  parti  ait  gouverne",  le  m£me 
esprit  les  a  toujours  animus  a  cet  6gard.  Le  m^me  esprit  regne 
encore;  nous  sommes  tres-riches;  nous  6tions  huit  millions  d'ames 
au  commencement  de  la  guerre,  et  la  population  augmente  de 
deux  cent  cinquante  mille  ames  par  an.  Si  je  n'ai  pas  entiere- 
ment  m£connu  FAm^rique,  ses  ressources  et  la  morality  de  sa  poli- 
tique,  je  ne  me  trompe  pas  en  croyant  ses  fonds  publics  plus  solides 
que  ceux  de  toutes  les  puissances  europSennes. 


534  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LATIN.  1814. 

Si  cependant  vous  avez  peur,  attendez  du  moins  la  conclusion 
dc  nos  ne"gociations ;  vous  n'avez  pas  le  temps  de  faire  vendre 
avant  cette  e*poque.  Je  serai  au  reste  encore  quinze  jours  au 
moins  a  Gand  et  donnerai  avec  grand  plaisir  a  M.  votre  fils 
tous  les  renseignements  en  mon  pouvoir  s'il  passe  par  ici  en  allant 
en  Angleterre.  Je  suis  tres-sensible  a  tout  ce  que  vous  avez  fait 
pour  £tre  utile  a  FAm6rique;  je  sens  encore  plus  combien  je 
vous  dois ;  vous  m'avez  re9U  et  accueilli  comme  si  j'eusse  e*te"  une 
ancienne  connaissance.  Avant  de  vous  connaitre  je  respectais 
en  vous  Madame  de  Stael  et  la  fille  de  Madame  Necker,  aux 
Merits  et  a  Texemple  de  qui  j'ai  plus  d'obligation  que  je  ne  puis 
exprimer.  Mais  je  vous  avouerai  que  j'avais  grand  peur  de  vous ; 
une  femme  tre"s  e"le*gante  et  aimable  et  le  premier  ge*nie  de  son 
sexe;  Ton  tremblerait  a  moins;  vous  elites  a  peine  ouvert  les 
le~vres  que  je  fus  rassure,  et  en  moins  de  cinq  minutes  je  me  sentis 
aupres  de  vous  comme  avec  une  amie  de  vingt  ans.  Je  ii'aurais 
fait  que  vous  admirer,  mais  votre  bonte"  e"gale  vos  talents  et  c'est 
pour  cela  que  je  vous  aime.  Agreez-en,  je  vous  prie,  Fassurance 
et  soyez  sure  du  plaisir  que  me  procurerait  Poccasion  de  pouvoir 
vous  £tre  bon  a  quelque  chose. 

Mr.  Goulburn,  meanwhile,  under  the  instructions  of  his  gov- 
ernment, was  condescending  to  what  had  some  remote  resemblance 
to  diplomacy.  On  the  23d  September  he  wrote  to  Lord  Bathurst 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  two  private  letters,  and  adding: 
"  You  may  depend  upon  our  governing  ourselves  entirely  by  the 
instructions  which  they  contain,  and  upon  my  continuing  to 
represent  to  the  Americans,  as  I  always  have  done  whenever  an 
opportunity  has  offered,  the  very  strong  opinion  which  prevails 
in  England  against  an  unsatisfactory  peace  with  America.  Of 
this  Mr.  Gallatin  appears  to  be  the  only  American  in  any  degree 
sensible,  and  this  perhaps  arises  from  his  being  less  like  an 
American  than  any  of  his  colleagues." 1 

Evidently  Mr.  Gallatin  was  doing  his  utmost  to  keep  the 
peace,  and  all  he  could  do  was  hardly  enough.  When  the 
American  note  of  September  26  was  received,  Mr.  Goulburn 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,ix.  278. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  535 

wrote  to  his  government  that  he  considered  it  a  rejection  of  their 
proposition  sine  qua  non,  and  that  to  admit  the  American  offer 
would  be  to  abandon  the  principle  on  which  the  whole  argument 
had  been  founded.  He  accused  the  American  commissioners  of 
irritating  and  unfounded  accusations,  of  falsehood,  of  misstate- 
ment,  and  of  fraud.1  Lord  Liverpool,  however,  was  in  a  better 
temper,  and,  after  consultation  with  his  colleague,  Earl  Bathurst, 
framed  an  article  which,  in  effect,  accepted  the  offer  of  Indian 
amnesty  proposed  by  the  American  envoys;  yet  so  curiously 
ungracious  was  the  mode  of  this  concession  that  the  Americans 
were  by  no  means  reassured.  Instead  of  pacifying  Mr.  Adams, 
it  irritated  him.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  still  to  act  as  peacemaker. 
"  The  tone  of  all  the  British  notes,"  says  Mr.  Adams,  "  is  arrogant, 
overbearing,  and  offensive.  The  tone  of  ours  is  neither  so  bold 
nor  so  spirited  as  I  think  it  should  be.  It  is  too  much  on  the 
defensive,  and  too  excessive  in  the  caution  to  say  nothing  irri- 
tating. I  have  seldom  been  able  to  prevail  upon  my  colleagues 
to  insert  anything  in  the  style  of  retort  upon  the  harsh  and  re- 
proachful matter  which  we  receive."  The  candid  reader  of  these 
papers  must  admit  that  there  is  no  apparent  want  of  tartness  in 
the  American  notes,  and  occasionally  the  retort  is  perhaps  a  little 
too  much  in  the  British  style ;  but  in  any  case  the  moment  when 
England  had  yielded,  however  ungraciously,  was  justly  thought 
by  all  Mr.  Adams's  colleagues  to  be  not  the  most  appropriate 
occasion  for  reproach.  Even  Mr.  Clay  was  earnest  on  this  point, 
and  insisted  upon  drafting  the  American  reply  himself,  and  thus 
disposing  of  the  Indian  question.  This  done,  the  next  step  was 
to  call  for  the  projet  of  a  treaty. 

On  the  18th  October,  Lord  Bathurst  accordingly  sent  the  sketch 
for  such  a  projet  to  Mr.  Goulburn.  Its  most  important  point 
was  an  offer  to  treat  in  regard  to  boundaries  on  the  basis  of  uti 
possidetis,  an  offer  not  in  itself  unfair,  but  startling  in  the  applica- 
tion which  Lord  Bathurst  gave  to  it.  He  proposed  to  exchange 
Castine  and  Machias,  which  were  held  by  the  British,  for  Forts 
Erie  and  Amherstburg,  held  by  the  Americans,  while  Michili- 
mackinac,  Fort  Niagara  with  five  miles  circuit,  and  the  northern 

1  Letter  to  Lord  Bathurst,  26th  September,  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  287. 


536  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIK  1814. 

angle  of  Maine  were  to  become  British  territory.1  The  details 
of  this  cession  were,  however,  not  to  be  put  forward  until  the 
American  commissioners  had  admitted  the  basis  of  uti  possidetis, 
and  accordingly  the  British  commissioners,  on  the  21st  October, 
sent  a  note  to  the  Americans  offering  to  treat  on  this  ground, 
and  adding  that  "  they  trust  that  the  American  plenipotentiaries 
will  show,  by  their  ready  acceptance  of  this  basis,  that  they 
duly  appreciate  the  moderation  of  His  Majesty's  government  in 
so  far  consulting  the  honor  and  fair  pretensions  of  the  United 
States,  as,  in  the  relative  situation  of  the  two  countries,  to 
authorize  such  a  proposition." 

Three  days  later,  on  the  24th  October,  the  Americans  sent 
back  a  very  brief  note  bluntly  refusing  to  treat  on  the  basis  of 
uti  possidetis,  or  on  any  other  basis  than  the  status  quo  ante  bellum 
in  respect  to  territory,  and  calling  for  the  British  projet. 

Of  all  the  notes  sent  by  the  American  negotiators,  this,  which 
they  seem  to  have  considered  a  matter  of  course  and  to  which 
they  gave  not  even  a  second  thought,  produced  the  liveliest 
emotions  in  the  British  government.  Lord  Liverpool,  on  re- 
ceiving it,  wrote  at  once  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington :  "  The  last 
note  of  the  American  plenipotentiaries  puts  an  end,  I  think, 
to  any  hopes  we  might  have  entertained  of  our  being  able  to 
bring  the  war  with  America  at  this  time  to  a  conclusion.  .  .  . 
The  doctrine  of  the  American  government  is  a  very  convenient 
one ;  that  they  will  always  be  ready  to  keep  what  they  acquire, 
but  never  to  give  up  what  they  lose.  .  .  .  We  still  think  it  de- 
sirable to  gain  a  little  more  time  before  the  negotiation  is  brought 
to  a  close,  and  we  shall  therefore  call  upon  them  to  deliver  in  a 
full  projet  of  all  the  conditions  on  which  they  are  ready  to  make 
peace  before  we  enter  into  discussion  on  any  of  the  points  con- 
tained in  our  last  note/'2  Mr.  Goulburn  assumed  that  every- 
thing was  over,  and  merely  wished  to  know  whether  they  had 
best  break  oif  on  this  point  or  on  that  of  the  fisheries,  and 
he  showed  almost  his  only  trace  of  common  sense  by  advising 
government  to  select  the  fisheries.3  On  the  British  side  it 

1  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  ii.  168,  172. 

2  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  384. 

8  Goulburn  to  Bathurst,  14th  November,  1814,  ibid.,  p.  432. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  537 

was  formally,  though  secretly,  announced  through  the  interior 
official  circle,  that  the  American  war  was  to  go  on,  and  for  a 
time  the  only  apparent  question  was  how  to  carry  it  on  most 
effectively. 

Unluckily,  however,  the  more  the  British  government  looked 
at  the  subject  from  this  point  of  view  the  less  satisfaction  they 
found  in  it.  Mr.  Yansittart,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
was  very  uncomfortable.  Lord  Liverpool  was  quite  as  uneasy 
as  Mr.  Vansittart.  On  the  28th  October,  the  same  day  on  which 
he  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  he  sent  a  letter  to  Lord 
Castlereagh,  at  Vienna :  "  I  think  it  very  material  that  we  should 
likewise  consider  that  our  war  with  America  will  probably  now 
be  of  some  duration.  We  owe  it  therefore  to  ourselves  not  to 
make  enemies  in  other  quarters,  if  we  can  avoid  it,  for  I  cannot 
but  feel  apprehensive  that  some  of  our  European  allies  will  not 
be  indisposed  to  favor  the  Americans ;  and  if  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  should  be  desirous  of  taking  up  their  cause,  we  are  well 
aware,  from  some  of  Lord  Walpole's  late  communications,  that 
there  is  a  most  powerful  party  in  Russia  to  support  him.  .  .  . 
Looking  to  a  continuance  of  the  American  war,  our  financial 
state  is  far  from  satisfactory.  Without  taking  into  the  account 
any  compensation  to  foreign  powers  on  the  subject  of  the  slave- 
trade,  we  shall  want  a  loan  for  the  service  of  the  year  of 
£27,000,000  or  £28,000,000.  The  American  war  will  not  cost 
us  less  than  £10,000,000  in  addition  to  our  peace  establishment 
and  other  expenses.  We  must  expect,  therefore,  to  hear  it  said 
that  the  property  tax  is  continued  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a 
better  frontier  for  Canada." l  A  week  later  Lord  Liverpool  wrote 
again  to  Lord  Castlereagh  in  a  still  lower  tone :  "  I  see  little 
prospect  of  our  negotiations  at  Ghent  ending  in  peace.  .  .  .  The 
continuance  of  the  American  war  will  entail  upon  us  a  prodigious 
expense,  much  more  than  we  had  any  idea  of.  ...  All  our 
colleagues  are  coming  to  town,  and  we  are  to  have  a  Cabinet 
on  the  speech  to-morrow.  Many  of  them  have  not  yet  seen  the 
American  correspondence;  but  we  have  got  the  question  into 
that  state  that  the  government  is  not  absolutely  committed,  and 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  382. 


538  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1814. 

there  will  be  an  opportunity  therefore  of  reviewing  in  a  full 
Cabinet  the  whole  course  of  our  policy  as  to  America."1 

This  Cabinet  council  hit  upon  a  brilliant  idea  to  extricate 
them  from  their  difficulties :  the  Duke  of  Wellington  should  go 
to  America,  with  full  powers  to  make  peace  or  to  fight,  and  in 
either  case  to  take  the  entire  responsibility  on  his  own  shoulders. 
This  scheme  was  immediately  communicated  to  the  Duke  by 
Lord  Liverpool,  in  a  letter  dated  November  4,  the  day  after 
the  council,  and  in  communicating  it  the  Earl  frankly  said: 
"  The  more  we  contemplate  the  character  of  the  American  war 
the  more  satisfied  we  are  of  the  many  inconveniences  which 
may  grow  out  of  the  continuation  of  it.  We  desire  to  bring  it 
to  an  honorable  conclusion." 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  had  some  experience  in  acting  as 
scape-goat  for  the  blunders  of  his  government;  he  was  a  man 
immeasurably  superior  to  his  civil  chiefs,  and  even  his  common 
sense  at  times  amounted  to  what  in  other  men  was  genius.  He 
wrote  back,  on  the  9th  November,  a  letter  which  would  alone 
stamp  him  as  the  ablest  English  statesman  of  his  day.  He  did 
not  refuse  to  go  to  America,  but  he  pointed  out  the  mistakes  that 
had  been  made  there,  and  which  must  be  remedied  before  he 
could  do  any  good  service ;  he  then  told  Lord  Liverpool  very 
civilly  but  very  decidedly  that  he  had  made  a  great  blunder 
in  requiring  territorial  concessions :  "  I  confess  that  I  think  you 
have  no  right,  from  the  state  of  the  war,  to  demand  any  conces- 
sion of  territory  from  America.  Considering  everything,  it  is 
my  opinion  that  the  war  has  been  a  most  successful  one,  and 
highly  honorable  to  the  British  arms;  but  from  particular 
circumstances,  such  as  the  want  of  the  naval  superiority  on  the 
lakes,  you  have  not  been  able  to  carry  it  into  the  enemy's  terri- 
tory, notwithstanding  your  military  success  and  now  undoubted 
military  superiority,  and  have  not  even  cleared  your  own  terri- 
tory of  the  enemy  on  the  point  of  attack.  You  cannot,  then,  on 
any  principle  of  equality  in  negotiation,  claim  a  cession  of  terri- 
tory excepting  in  exchange  for  other  advantages  which  you  have 
in  your  power.  I  put  out  of  the  question  the  possession  taken 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  402. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  539 

by  Sir  John  Sherbrooke  between  the  Penobscot  and  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay.  It  is  evidently  only  temporary  and  till  a  larger 
force  will  drive  away  the  few  companies  he  has  left  there ;  and 
an  officer  might  as  well  claim  the  sovereignty  of  the  ground  on 
which  his  piquets  stand  or  over  which  his  patrols  pass.  Then, 
if  this  reasoning  be  true,  why  stipulate  for  the  uti  possidetis  f 
You  can  get  no  territory;  indeed,  the  state  of  your  military 
operations,  however  creditable,  does  not  entitle  you  to  demand 
any ;  and  you  only  afford  the  Americans  a  popular  and  creditable 
ground,  which,  I  believe,  their  government  are  looking  for,  not 
to  break  off  the  negotiations,  but  to  avoid  to  make  peace.  If 
you  had  territory,  as  I  hope  you  soon  will  have  New  Orleans, 
I  should  prefer  to  insist  upon  the  cession  of  that  province  as  a 
separate  article  than  upon  the  uti  possidetis  as  a  principle  of 
negotiation.'7 1 

This  was  plain  speaking.  The  whole  British  scheme  of 
negotiation  had,  moreover,  been  fatally  shaken  by  the  disastrous 
failure  of  Sir  George  Prevost's  attack  on  Plattsburg.  Lord 
Liverpool  immediately  wrote  back  to  the  Duke  that  the  question 
was  still  open  and  the  Cabinet  was  disposed  to  meet  his  views  on 
the  subject.2  A  few  days  later,  on  the  18th  November,  he  wrote 
to  Lord  Castlereagh  announcing  that  government  had  at  last 
decided  to  recede :  "  We  have  under  our  consideration  at  present 
the  last  American  note  of  their  projet  of  treaty,  and  I  think  we 
have  determined,  if  all  other  points  can  be  satisfactorily  settled, 
not  to  continue  the  war  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  or  securing 
any  acquisition  of  territory.  We  have  been  led  to  this  determi- 
nation by  the  consideration  of  the  unsatisfactory  state  of  the 
negotiations  at  Vienna,  and  by  that  of  the  alarming  situation  of 
the  interior  of  France.  We  have  also  been  obliged  to  pay  serious 
attention  to  the  state  of  our  finances  and  to  the  difficulties  we 
shall  have  in  continuing  the  property  tax.  Considering  the 
general  depression  of  rents,  which,  even  under  any  corn  law  that 
is  likely  to  meet  with  the  approbation  of  Parliament,  must  be 
expected  to  take  place  under  such  circumstances,  it  has  appeared 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  426.     Castlereagh  Corr.,  3d  Series,  ii.  186. 

2  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  430. 


540  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    G  ALL  ATI  N.  1814. 

to  us  desirable  to  bring  the  American  war,  if  possible,  to  a 
conclusion." l 

Thus  the  second  round  in  this  diplomatic  encounter  closed 
with  the  British  government  fairly  discomfited ;  Lord  Bathurst 
and  Lord  Liverpool  had  succeeded  no  better  than  Mr.  Goul- 
burn  in  dealing  with  the  American  envoys,  and  had  received  a 
sharp  lesson  from  the  Duke  of  Wellington  into  the  bargain. 
When  the  unfortunate  Mr.  Goulburn  received  the  despatches 
containing  his  new  instructions,  he  was  deeply  depressed.  "  I 
need  not  trouble  you,"  he  wrote  on  the  25th  November  to  Lord 
Bathurst,  "  with  the  expression  of  my  sincere  regret  at  the  alter- 
native which  the  government  feels  itself  compelled,  by  the  present 
state  of  affairs  in  Europe,  to  adopt  with  respect  to  America.  You 
know  that  I  was  never  much  inclined  to  give  way  to  the  Amer- 
icans :  I  am  still  less  inclined  to  do  so  after  the  statement  of  our 
demands  with  which  the  negotiation  opened,  and  which  has  in 
every  point  of  view  proved  most  unfortunate."2  The  draught 
was  a  bitter  one,  but  he  swallowed  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  American  commissioners,  ignorant  of  all  this 
secret  correspondence  and  consultation,  were  busy  in  framing 
their  projet,  and  in  disputing  among  themselves  in  regard  to 
the  extension  they  should  give  to  the  principle  of  the  status  quo 
ante  helium  as  applied  to  other  than  territorial  questions,  and 
especially  to  the  fisheries  and  the  Mississippi. 

The  task  of  preparing  articles  on  impressment,  blockade,  and 
indemnities  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Adams;  but  as  these  articles 
were  at  once  declared  inadmissible  by  the  British,  and  were 
abandoned  in  consequence,  the  whole  stress  of  negotiation  fell 
upon  those  respecting  boundaries  and  the  fisheries,  which  Mr. 
Gallatin  undertook  to  prepare.  On  this  point  local  jealousies 
were  involved,  which  not  only  troubled  the  harmony  of  the 
mission,  but  left  seeds  that  afterwards  developed  into  a  ferocious 
controversy  between  some  of  its  members.  This  was  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  treaty  of  1783  had  to  a  certain  extent  coupled 
the  American  right  to  fish  in  British  waters  with  a  British  right 
to  navigate  the  Mississippi.  The  British  now  proposed  to  put 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  438.  2  Ibid.,  452. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  541 

an  abrupt  end  to  the  American  fisheries,  but  seemed  disposed  to 
retain  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  To  settle  the  question, 
Mr.  Gallatin  drew  up  an  article  by  which  the  two  articles  of  the 
treaty  of  1783  on  these  points  were  recognized  and  confirmed.1 
To  this  Mr.  Clay  energetically  objected,  and  a  prolonged  dis- 
cussion took  place.  The  question  what  the  fisheries  were  worth 
was  a  question  of  fact,  which  was  susceptible  of  answer,  but  no 
human  being  could  say  what  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
was  worth,  and  for  this  very  reason  there  could  be  no  agreement. 
Whatever  the  right  of  navigation  might  amount  to  in  national 
interest,  it  was  very  likely  to  equal  the  whole  value  of  Mr.  Clay's 
personal  popularity ;  and  whatever  the  fisheries  might  be  worth 
to  New  England,  their  loss  was  certain  to  bankrupt  Mr.  Adams's 
political  fortunes.  Mr.  Gallatin  acted  here  not  merely  the  part 
of  a  peacemaker,  but  that  of  an  economist.  He  took  upon  him- 
self the  burden  of  saving  the  fisheries,  and  not  only  drafted  the 
article  which  offered  to  renew  the  treaty  stipulations  of  1783, 
and  thus  set  off  the  fisheries  against  the  Mississippi,  but  assumed 
the  brunt  of  the  argument  against  Mr.  Clay,  who  would  listen 
to  no  suggestion  of  a  return  in  this  respect  to  the  old  status. 
On  the  5th  November  the  commissioners  came  to  a  vote  on  Mr. 
Gallatin 's  proposed  article ;  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Russell  opposed 
it ;  Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Bayard  approved  it,  and 
it  was  voted  that  the  article  should  be  inserted  in  the  American 
projet.  Mr.  Clay  declared  that  he  would  not  put  his  name  to 
the  note,  though  he  should  not  go  so  far  as  to  refuse  his  signature 
to  the  treaty. 

The  next  day,  however,  a  compromise  was  made.  Mr.  Clay 
proposed  that  Mr.  Gallatin's  article  should  be  laid  aside,  and 
that,  instead  of  a  provision  expressly  inserted  in  the  projet,  a 
paragraph  should  be  inserted  in  the  note  which  was  to  accom- 
pany the  projet.  The  idea  suggested  in  this  paragraph  was  that 
the  commissioners  were  not  authorized  to  bring  the  fisheries  into 
discussion,  because  the  treaty  of  1783  was  by  its  peculiar  nature 
a  permanent  arrangement,  and  the  United  States  could  not  con- 


1  See  "The  Duplicate  Letters,  the  Fisheries,  and  the  Mississippi,"  p. 
126. 


542  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1814. 

cede  its  abrogation.  True,  the  right  to  the  Mississippi  was  thus 
made  permanent,  as  well  as  the  right  to  the  fisheries,  but  Mr. 
Clay  conceived  that  this  right  could  be  valid  only  so  far  as  it 
was  independent  of  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana. 

The  reasoning  seemed  somewhat  casuistic ;  Mr.  Gallatin  hesi- 
tated; he  much  doubted  whether  the  provisions  of  1783  about 
the  fisheries  and  the  Mississippi  were  in  their  nature  permanent ; 
on  this  point  he  believed  the  British  to  have  the  best  of  the 
argument;  but  the  advantages  of  unanimity  and  of  obedience 
to  instructions  outweighed  his  doubts.  Mr.  Clay's  compromise 
was  accordingly  adopted,  but  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Adams,  with 
the  strong  support  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  succeeded  in  adding  the 
declaration  that  the  commissioners  were  ready  to  sign  a  treaty 
which  should  apply  the  principle  of  the  status  quo  ante  bettum 
to  all  the  subjects  of  difference.  Mr.  Clay  resisted  as  long  as  he 
could,  but  at  last  signed  with  his  colleagues,  and  the  projet  sent 
in  on  November  10  accordingly  contained  no  allusion  to  the 
fisheries  or  the  Mississippi. 

This  note  and  projet  of  November  10  found  the  British  com- 
missioners still  in  a  belligerent  temper,  for  the  effect  of  Mr.  Van- 
sittart's  remonstrances  and  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  advice 
had  not  yet  made  itself  felt.  Mr.  Goulburn  wrote  on  the  same 
day  to  Lord  Bathurst  that  the  greater  part  of  the  American  pro- 
jet  was  by  far  too  extravagant  to  leave  any  doubt  in  his  mind 
and  that  of  his  colleagues  as  to  the  mode  in  .which  it  could  be 
combated.1  An  entire  fortnight  passed  before  his  government 
startled  him  with  the  announcement  that  he  must  again  give 
way,  and  it  was  only  then,  on  November  25,  that  the  fishery 
question  was  seriously  taken  up  on  the  British  side. 

In  Lord  Castlereagh's  original  instructions  of  July  28,2  the 
British  commissioners  had  been  told  that  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  of  1783  in  respect  to  the  in-shore  fisheries  on  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland  had  been  productive  of  so  much  inconvenience  as 
to  determine  the  government  not  to  renew  them  in  their  present 
form  or  to  concede  any  accommodation  to  the  Americans  in  this 


1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  427. 

8  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  ii.  67. 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  543 

respect  except  on  the  principle  of  an  equivalent  in  frontier  or 
otherwise.  Supplementary  instructions,  dated  August  14,1  had 
also  declared  that  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  must  be 
provided  for.  Lord  Bathurst  had  now  to  settle  his  policy  on 
these  points,  and  he  seems  to  have  instructed  Mr.  Goulburn,  in 
letters  dated  the  21st  and  22d  November,  that  the  treaty  might  be 
concluded  without  noticing  the  fishery  question,  since  the  crown 
lawyers  were  of  the  opinion,  although  he  himself  thought  other- 
wise, that  the  American  rights,  unless  expressly  renewed,  would 
necessarily  terminate.  These  letters  of  Lord  Bathurst,  however, 
have  not  been  printed,  and  their  tenor  can  only  be  inferred  from 
Mr.  Goulburn's  reply  on  the  25th  November,  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  British  were  almost  as  much  in  doubt  as  the 
Americans  in  regard  to  the  fishery  rights :  "  Had  we  never  men- 
tioned the  subject  of  the  fisheries  at  all/7  said  Mr.  Goulburn,  "I 
think  that  we  might  have  argued  the  exclusion  of  the  Americans 
from  them  on  the  general  principle  stated  by  Sir  W.  Scott  and 
Sir  C.  Robinson ;  but  having  once  brought  forward  the  subject, 
having  thus  implied  that  we  had  (what  Lord  Castlereagh  seemed 
really  to  have)  a  doubt  of  this  principle;  having  received  from  the 
American  plenipotentiaries  a  declaration  of  what  they  consider  to 
be  their  right  in  this  particular,  and  having  left  that  declaration 
without  an  answer,  I  entirely  concur  in  your  opinion  that  we  do 
practically  admit  the  Americans  to  the  fisheries  as  they  enjoyed 
them  before  the  war,  and  shall  not,  without  a  new  war,  be  able 
to  exclude  them.  I  ought  to  add,  howrever,  that  Dr.  Adams  and 
Lord  Gambier  do  not  agree  in  this  opinion.  You  do  us  but  jus- 
tice in  supposing  that,  without  positive  instructions,  we  shall  not 
admit  any  article  in  favor  of  the  American  fishery  even  if  any 
such  should  be  brought  forward  by  them ;  indeed,  we  did  not  at 
all  understand  your  letter,  either  public  or  private,  as  implying 
any  such  concession." 

The  British  counter-projet,  sent  in  on  November  26,  contained 
accordingly  no  allusion  to  the  fisheries  and  took  no  notice  of  Mr. 
Clay's  paragraph  in  regard  to  the  treaty  of  1783,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  contained  a  clause  stipulating  for  the  free  navigation 

1  Castlereagh  Correspondence,  3d  Series,  ii.  86. 


544  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

of  the  Mississippi.  "When  this  counter-projet  came  up  for  dis- 
cussion in  the  American  commission  on  the  28th  November, 
another  hot  dispute  arose.  Mr.  Gallatin  proposed  to  accept  the 
British  clause  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi,  and  to  add  another 
clause  to  continue  the  liberty  of  taking,  drying,  and  curing  fish, 
"  as  secured  by  the  former  treaty  of  peace.7'  To  this  proposition 
Mr.  Clay  offered  a  stout  resistance ;  he  maintained  that  the 
fisheries  were  of  little  or  no  value,  while  the  Mississippi  was  of 
immense  importance,  and  he  could  see  no  sort  of  reason  in  treating 
them  as  equivalent.  Mr.  Adams  maintained  just  the  opposite 
view,  and  after  the  dispute  had  lasted  the  better  part  of  two  days, 
"  Mr.  Gallatin  brought  us  all  to  unison  again  by  a  joke.  He  said 
he  perceived  that  Mr.  Adams  cared  nothing  at  all  about  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  and  thought  of  nothing  but  the 
fisheries.  Mr.  Clay  cared  nothing  at  all  about  the  fisheries  and 
thought  of  nothing  but  the  Mississippi.  The  East  was  perfectly 
willing  to  sacrifice  the  West,  and  the  West  equally  ready  to  sacri- 
fice the  East.  Now  he  was  a  Western  man,  and  would  give  the 
navigation  of  the  river  for  the  fisheries.  Mr.  Russell  was  an 
Eastern  man,  and  was  ready  to  do  the  same." 

The  proposition  was  accordingly  made,  and  met  with  a  prompt 
refusal  from  the  British  government,  which  proposed  to  adopt  a 
new  article  by  which  both  subjects  should  be  referred  to  a  future 
negotiation.  This  offer  gave  rise  among  the  commissioners  to 
a  fresh  contest,  waged  hotly  about  the  point  whether  or  not 
the  United  States  should  concede,  that  a  right  fixed  by  the  treaty 
of  1783  was  open  to  negotiation.  Here  Mr.  Gallatin  parted 
company  with  Mr.  Adams.  He  was  unwilling  to  pledge  the 
government  to  the  doctrine  that  liberties  granted  by  the  treaty 
of  1783  could  not  be  discussed,  and  he  carried  all  his  colleagues 
with  him,  Mr.  Adams  only  excepted,  in  favor  of  a  qualified 
acceptance  of  the  British  proposition,  provided  the  engagement 
to  negotiate  applied  to  all  the  subjects  of  difference  not  yet 
adjusted,  and  provided  it  involved  no  abandonment  of  any 
right  in  the  fisheries  claimed  by  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Goulburn  had  flattered  himself  upon  having  at  length 
gained  a  point.  On  the  10th  December  he  had  written  to  Lord 
Bathurst :  "  I  confess  my  own  opinion  to  be  that  the  question 


1814.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  545 

of  the  fisheries  stood  as  well  upon  the  result  of  the  last  confer- 
ence as  it  can  do  upon  any  reply  which  they  may  make  to  our 
proposition  of  this  day.  The  arguments  which  they  used  at  the 
time  will  certainly  be  to  be  learnt  only  from  the  ex  parte  state- 
ments of  the  negotiators ;  but  the  fact  of  their  having  attempted 
to  purchase  the  fisheries  is  recorded,  and  is  an  evidence  (to  say 
the  least  of  it)  that  they  doubt  their  right  to  enjoy  them  with- 
out a  stipulation.  If  they  receive  our  proposition,  all  will  be 
well ;  but  if  they  reject  it,  they  may  derive  from  that  rejec- 
tion an  argument  against  what  we  wish  to  deduce  from  the 
protocol."  l 

Even  the  poor  consolation  which  Mr.  Goulburn  thus  hugged 
was  disappointed,  for  Mr.  Gallatin's  note  neither  accepted  nor 
rejected  the  British  offer  to  negotiate,  but  expressed  a  willingness 
to  agree  to  do  so  only  with  the  most  emphatic  reservation  of  all 
rights  claimed  by  the  United  States.  Mr.  Goulburn  was  obliged 
to  contemplate  the  abandonment  of  his  last  stronghold ;  he  mildly 
wrote  to  Lord  Bathurst,  suggesting  that  all  stipulations  respecting 
the  Mississippi  and  the  fisheries  should  be  omitted.2 

After  Mr.  Gallatin  had,  with  no  little  difficulty,  succeeded  in 
carrying  his  point,  and  after  the  usual  delay  consequent  on  the 
inevitable  reference  to  London,  an  answer  was  returned  on  the 
22d  December.  Somewhat  to  the  discomfiture  of  both  Mr.  Clay 
and  Mr.  Adams,  the  Eastern  and  Western  belligerents,  this  reply 
suddenly  drew  their  war-chariots  from  under  them.  The  British 
government  was  now  more  eager  for  peace  than  the  American 
commissioners;  it  declared  that  it  cared  nothing  about  its  pro- 
posed article  by  which  the  fisheries  and  the  Mississippi  were  to  be 
referred  to  negotiation,  and  would  withdraw  it  with  pleasure,  so 
that  the  treaty  might  be  silent  on  the  subject.  The  practical 
result  was  that  Mr.  Adams's  view  of  the  treaty  of  1783  inevi- 
tably became  the  doctrine  of  his  government,  and  that  Mr.  Clay 
was  overset.  Mr.  Clay  saw  this,  and  was  nettled  by  it;  but 
Mr.  Gallatin's  very  delicate  management,  and  the  now  clearly 
avowed  desire  of  the  British  government  to  make  peace,  had 
clinched  the  settlement ;  further  discussion  or  delay  was  out  of 

1  Wellington  Sup.  Desp.,  ix.  472.  2  Ibid.,  p.  479. 

35 


546  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1814. 

the  question,  and  three  days  later,  on  Christmas-Day,  the  treaty 
was  signed. 

Far  more  than  contemporaries  ever  supposed  or  than  is  now 
imagined,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was  the  special  work  and  the  pecu- 
liar triumph  of  Mr.  Gallatin.  From  what  a  fearful  collapse  it 
rescued  the  government,  every  reader  knows.  How  bitterly  it 
irritated  the  war-party  in  England,  and  what  clamors  were  raised 
against  it  by  the  powerful  interests  that  were  bent  on  "  punish- 
ing" the  United  States,  can  be  seen  in  the  old  leaders  of  the 
London  Times.  What  Lord  Castlereagh  at  Vienna  thought  of 
it  may  be  read  in  his  letter  of  January  2,  1815,  to  Lord  Liver- 
pool :  "  The  courier  from  Ghent  with  the  news  of  the  peace  ar- 
rived yesterday  morning.  It  has  produced  the  greatest  possible 
sensation  here,  and  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  enter  largely  into  the 
calculations  of  our  opponents.  It  is  a  most  auspicious  and  sea- 
sonable event.  I  wish  you  joy  of  being  released  from  the  mill- 
stone of  an  American  war."1  The  peace  was  due  primarily  to 
the  good  sense  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  Lord  Liverpool,  and  the 
Duke  of  Wellington ;  but  there  is  fair  room  to  doubt  whether 
that  good  sense  would  have  been  kept  steady  to  its  purpose,  and 
whether  the  American  negotiators  could  have  been  held  together 
in  theirs,  without  the  controlling  influence  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  re- 
source, tact,  and  authority ;  whether,  indeed,  any  negotiation  at 
all  could  have  been  brought  about  except  through  Mr.  Gallatin's 
personal  efforts,  from  the  time  he  supported,  the  mission  in  the 
Cabinet  to  the  time  when  he  took  the  responsibility  of  going  to 
England.  Sooner  or  later  peace  must  have  come,  but  there  may 
be  fair  reason  to  think  that,  without  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  United 
States  must  have  fought  another  campaign,  and,  Mr.  Clay  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  the  position  of  New  England  and  of 
the  finances  made  peace  vitally  necessary.  On  that  subject  Mr. 
Gallatin's  knowledge  of  New  England  and  of  finance  made  him 
a  wiser  counsellor  than  Mr.  Clay.  Yet  if  Mr.  Clay  really  had 
thought  as  he  talked,  he  would  not  have  crossed  the  ocean  to 
assist  in  doing  precisely  what  Mr.  Gallatin's  policy  dictated ;  he 
well  knew  that  the  United  States  could  possibly  win  in  the  field 

1  Castlereagh  Corr.,  3d  Series,  ii.  523. 


1815.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  547 

no  advantages  to  compensate  for  the  inevitable  mischief  that 
another  year  of  war  must  have  caused  to  the  government. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  task  done  was  done  in  the  true  spirit  of 
Mr.  Gallatin's  political  philosophy  and  in  the  fullest  sympathy 
with  his  old  convictions.  Stress  of  circumstances  had  wrested 
control  from  his  hands,  had  blocked  his  path  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  had  plunged  the  country  headlong  into  difficulties 
it  was  not  yet  competent  to  manage.  Gallatin  had  abandoned 
place  and  power,  had  thrown  himself  with  all  his  energy  upon 
the  only  point  where  he  could  make  his  strength  effective,  and 
had  actually  succeeded,  by  skill  and  persistence,  in  guiding  the 
country  back  to  safe  and  solid  ground.  He  was  not  a  man  to 
boast  of  his  exploits,  and  he  never  claimed  peculiar  credit  in  any 
of  these  transactions,  but  as  he  signed  the  treaty  of  Ghent  he 
could  fairly  say  that  no  one  had  done  more  than  himself  to 
serve  his  country,  and  no  one  had  acted  a  more  unselfish  part. 

After  a  furious  parting  quarrel  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Adams,  in  which  Mr.  Gallatin  again  exercised  all  his  tact  to 
soothe  the  angry  feelings  of  the  two  combatants,  while  he  quietly 
threw  his  weight  on  Mr.  Adams's  side,  the  commissioners  sepa- 
rated, and  he  found  himself  free  to  follow  his  own  fancy.  As 
might  be  expected,  his  first  act  was  to  revisit  his  family  and  his 
birthplace ;  he  took,  the  road  to  Geneva. 

Of  this  visit  very  little  can  be  said.  His  letters  to  his  wife 
during  all  the  period  of  this  stay  in  Europe  have  been  lost,  and 
their  place  cannot  be  supplied.  No  man,  however,  can  go  through 
the  experience  of  returning  to  the  associations  of  his  youth,  after 
more  than  thirty  years  of  struggle  like  his,  without  sensations 
such  as  he  would  not  care  to  express  in  words.  He  left  only  one 
allusion  to  the  subject :  he  said  that,  as  he  approached  Geneva, 
calm  as  his  nature  was,  his  calmness  deserted  him. 

The  citizens  of  his  native  town  received  him  with  the  most 
cordial  welcome ;  they  were  proud  of  him,  and  he  was  greeted 
with  all  the  distinction  he  could  have  expected  or  wished.  He 
passed  a  short  time  in  renewing  his  relations  with  the  surviving 
members  of  his  family  and  with  his  old  friends ;  then,  departing 
again  for  Paris,  he  arrived  there  in  season  to  witness  the  return 
of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  and  to  receive  the  information  of  his  own 


548  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIK  1815. 

appointment  as  minister  to  France  in  place  of  Mr.  Crawford,  who 
had  decided  to  return  home.  In  April  he  crossed  the  channel  to 
England.  He  had  not  yet  determined  to  accept  the  French  mis- 
sion, and  in  any  case  his  family  and  his  private  affairs  made  a 
return  to  America  necessary ;  meanwhile,  he  and  his  colleagues 
lingered,  hoping  to  effect  still  further  negotiation  under  their 
powers  for  a  commercial  treaty. 

The  following  letter  is  a  memento  of  his  stay  in  Paris. 


ALEXANDER   VON   HUMBOLDT   TO   GALLATIN. 

Je  n'ai  pas  6t4  assez  heureux  pour  vous  trouver  ce  matin,  mon 
illustre  ami.  J'aurais  bien  desire"  cependant  vous  parler  de  mon 
attachement  constant  et  tendre,  de  mon  vif  intent  pour  la  paix  que 
vous  avez  eu  la  gloire  de  conelure  dans  des  circonstances  difficiles. 
J?aurais  aussi  voulu  vous  feliciter  sur  cette  belle  et  noble  defense 
de  la  Nouvelle-Orleans  qui  fera  respecter  les  armees  de  la  Liberte, 
comme  les  flottes  qui  voguent  sous  votre  pavilion  se  sont  couvertes 
de  gloire  depuis  longtemps.  Que  dans  ces  temps  malheureux  mes 
yeux  se  fixent  avec  attendrissement  sur  ces  eontrees  qui  seront 
bientot  le  centre  de  la  civilisation  humaine !  Je  ferai  d'autres 
tentatives  pour  vous  trouver  et  vous  recommander  de  nouveau 
Mr.  Warden,  mon  ami  et  celui  de  Messrs.  Berthollet,  Thenard, 
Gay  Lussac,  et  de  tout  ce  qui  aime  les  sciences.  Je  ne  puis  croire 
qu'un  homme  aussi  instruit,  aussi  doux,  aussi'  honne"te,  aussi  at- 
taohe"  aux  Etats-Unis,  a  M.  Jefferson  et  aux  doctrines  vertueuses 
puisse  etre  rejette"  par  votre  gouvernement.  Je  supplie  Madame 
Gallatin  d'agre"er  Phommage  de  mon  respectueux  denouement. 
Quel  contraste  entre  cette  Spoque  et  celle  ou  vous  me  vites  a  Lon- 
dres  ennuye"  des  "  magnanimous  Soverains"  et  de  la  croisade  des 
fre'ros  1 

HUMBOLDT. 

Quai  Malaquais,  No.  &. 
Jeudi. 

Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Clay  arrived  in  London  early  in  April 
and  began  negotiations  with  Lord  Castlereagh.  Mr.  Adams,  now 
appointed  minister  to  England,  joined  his  colleagues  in  the  fol- 


1815.  DIPLOMACY.      1813-1829.  549 

lowing  month,  but  Mr.  Bayard  remained  in  Paris  or  on  ship- 
board. The  President  had  appointed  him  minister  to  Russia, 
but  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  accept  the  post  even  if  he  had 
cared  to  take  it;  broken  down  by  illness,  he  was  destined  to 
reach  home  only  to  die.  The  negotiation  with  Lord  Castlereagh 
was  carried  on  almost  entirely  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  was  the  first 
of  a  long  series  of  similar  negotiations  mainly  conducted  by  him 
during  the  next  fifteen  years. 

So  far  as  England  was  concerned,  excepting  the  questions  of 
the  fisheries,  impressment,  and  boundary,  the  only  source  of 
serious  difficulty  arose  in  her  colonial  policy  and  the  complica- 
tions necessarily  springing  from  it.  These  complications  were 
numerous,  but  became  threatening  only  when  England  was 
engaged  in  maritime  war ;  at  other  times  they  were  merely  an- 
noying, and  kept  our  government  incessantly  employed  in  efforts 
to  obtain  the  relaxation  or  abandonment  of  vexatious  commercial 
restrictions.  To  obtain  this  result,  however,  the  United  States 
had  left  herself  no  inducements  to  offer.  Most  of  the  maritime 
powers  in  Europe  had  colonies,  which  they  regarded  as  mere 
farms  of  the  State ;  private  property  with  regard  to  other  nations; 
industrial  speculations  with  which  foreigners  had  no  more  to  do 
than  with  their  arsenals  and  dock-yards ;  places  where  they  were 
admitted  only  on  tolerance,  and  where  they  dealt  not  with  the 
colonist,  but  with  the  imperial  government.  England  especially 
had  created  a  great  system  of  this  kind,  and,  to  protect  it,  she  had 
enacted  a  long  series  of  navigation  laws  whose  object  was  to  secure 
all  her  own  colonial  trade  to  her  own  ships,  and  as  much  of  her 
neighbors'  trade  as  she  could  gather  into  her  ubiquitous  hands. 
Between  European  nations  there  was  a  sort  of  colonial  compact ; 
they  bargained  one  colonial  trade  against  another,  and  admitted 
one  another's  ships  into  their  colonial  ports  provided  their  own 
ships  were  admitted  in  return;  but  when  the  United  States 
claimed  the  same  privilege,  the  European  governments,  with  the 
spirit  and  in  the  language  of  so  many  small  hucksters,  asked  what 
equivalent  the  United  States  could  offer ;  where  were  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  whose  trade  could  be  exchanged  for  that  of  the 
European  ?  Mr.  Gallatin  pointed  out  where  the  American  colo- 
nies lay,  a  long  uninterrupted  succession  stretching  from  Lake  Erie 


550  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1815. 

and  Lake  Superior  to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans, — colonies  whose 
growth  surpassed  that  of  the  most  prosperous  European  settlement 
as  absolutely  as  the  American  continent  surpassed  in  size  and 
wealth  the  largest  and  richest  island  of  either  Indies.  To  this 
there  was  but  one  reply.  The  United  States  had  already  thrown 
the  trade  of  her  colonies  open  to  the  world ;  she  could  not  now 
bargain  for  an  equivalent.  Even  retaliation  was  precluded,  for 
her  own  constitution  wrould  neither  permit  her  to  close  any  of  her 
ports  without  closing  all,,  nor  to  lay  a  duty  on  exports. 

The  English  colonial  system  was  the  most  difficult  to  deal 
with,  since  it  was  not  only  the  most  extensive,  the  most  valu- 
able, and  the  English  colonies  among  the  nearest  to  the  United 
States,  but  its  complications  and  inconsistencies  were  the  most 
elaborate  and  perplexing,  while  to  the  British  nation  there  was 
no  absurdity  in  the  whole  mass  that  was  not  twisted  deeply 
about  some  strong  moneyed  interest  and  that  was  not  sanctified 
by  age  and  English  blood.  To  the  United  States  there  were 
three  groups  of  questions  involved  in  commercial  relations  with 
the  British  colonies.  The  first  group  included  Canada  and  the 
whole  trade  with  the  provinces  on  our  northern  frontier,  and 
was  further  complicated  by  our  claim  to  the  right  of  navigating 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  second  group  included  the  British  West 
India  islands  and  their  indirect  trade  with  the  United  States 
through  Nova  Scotia.  The  third  group  consisted  of  the  East 
Indies,  and  involved  the  trade  between  Calcutta,  Europe,  and 
the  United  States.  These  were  the  subjects  which  Mr.  Gal  latin 
attempted  to  settle  by  a  commercial  convention  in  the  summer 
of  1815,  and  which  detained  him,  much  against  his  will,  in 
England  at  a  time  when  he  was  extremely  anxious  to  be  again 
at  home. 

Lord  Castlereagh  was  friendly,  and  did  what  he  could  to 
smooth  negotiation.  Mr.  Goulburn  and  Dr.  Adams  were  con- 
tinued in  the  British  commission ;  but,  in  place  of  Lord  Gam- 
bier,  the  American  commissioners  had  a  man  to  deal  with  whose 
qualifications  and  temper  were  of  a  very  different  kind.  This 
was  Frederic  Robinson,  afterwards  Lord  Goderich  and  Earl 
Eipon,  who  played  a  distinguished  part  in  reforming  the  worst 
faults  of  the  English  commercial  system.  He  was  now  vice- 


1815.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  551 

president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  treated  the  American 
ministers  with  courtesy  and  kindness,  although  able  to  do  little 
more.  Mr.  Gallatin  succeeded  in  disposing  of  none  of  the 
more  difficult  points  in  dispute.  Not  only  did  the  British  gov- 
ernment politely  decline  to  open  the  questions  of  impressment, 
blockade,  and  the  trade  with  enemies'  colonies  in  time  of  war, 
but  it  withdrew  the  whole  subject  of  the  West  India  trade 
from  discussion,  and  refused  to  listen  to  the  American  proposi- 
tion for  regulating  the  traffic  with  Canada  and  opening  the  river 
St.  Lawrence.  There  remained  only  the  East  Indies,  and  a  con- 
vention was  ultimately  signed  which  secured  the  Americans  for 
four  years  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  branch  of  commerce.  In 
discussing  with  the  Secretary  of  State  the  merits  of  this  com- 
mercial convention  of  1815,  Mr.  Gallatin  afterwards  declared 
that  the  only  portion  of  it  which  appeared  to  him  truly  valu- 
able was  that  which  abolished  discriminating  duties,  "  a  policy 
which,  removing  some  grounds  of  irritation,  and  preventing  in 
that  respect  a  species  of  commercial  warfare,  may  have  a  tend- 
ency to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  better  understanding  between 
the  two  nations  on  other  points." l  This  result  of  three  months7 
labor  was  small  enough,  but  Mr.  Gallatin  might  derive  some 
encouragement  from  the  fact  that  the  British  government  looked 
upon  itself  as  having  done  a  very  generous  act,  since,  in  the 
w^ords  of  its  last  note,  "  it  considers  itself  as  granting  to  the 
United  States  a  privilege  in  regard  to  the  East  Indies  for  which 
it  is  entitled  to  require  an  equivalent." 

The  negotiation  did  not  close  without  its  inevitable  accom- 
paniment of  discord.2  Mr.  Adams,  who  commonly  recorded  all 
his  own  sins  of  temper  with  conscientious  self-reproach,  seems  in 
this  case  to  have  thought  Mr.  Gallatin  at  fault,  and  accuses  him 
of  speaking  in  a  peremptory  and  somewhat  petulant  manner 
against  a  point  of  form  in  which  Mr.  Adams  was  undoubtedly 
right.  The  charge  may  very  possibly  be  in  this  instance  cor- 
rect. The  whole  matter  was  trivial,  so  far  as  the  dispute  was 
concerned,  and,  like  all  these  diplomatic  irritations,  had  no 


1  Gallatin  to  Monroe,  25th  November,  1815.     Writings,  i.  665. 

2  Memoirs  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  iii.  242. 


552  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1815. 

lasting  effect  except  to  associate  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  mind  the  recol- 
lection of  Mr.  Adams  with  ideas  of  deplorable  wrong-headedness. 
This  was  not  necessarily  a  correct  conclusion,  and  Mr.  Adams 
was  naturally  led  to  retaliate  by  thinking  Mr.  Gallatin  tor- 
tuous. In  point  of  fact,  Mr.  Adams  was  but  one  representative 
of  a  common  New  England  type,  little  understood  beyond 
the  borders  of  that  province ;  a  type  which,  with  an  indurated 
exterior,  was  sinewy  and  supple  to  the  core.  The  true  Yankee 
wrested  from  man  and  from  nature  all  he  could  get  by  force, 
but  when  force  was  exhausted  he  could  be  as  pliable  as  his 
neighbors.  In  the  present  case,  Mr.  Adams  attempted  an 
experiment  of  this  kind  at  the  risk  of  some  personal  incon- 
venience to  Mr.  Gallatin.  The  nearly  futile  negotiation  had 
detained  Gallatin  and  Clay  in  England  much  beyond  their 
intention ;  meanwhile,  Bayard  and  Crawford,  on  June  18,  had 
sailed  in  the  Neptune,  leaving  their  two  companions  to  get  home 
as  they  best  could.  It  was  now  the  2d  of  July,  and  the  treaty 
was  waiting  to  be  signed,  when  Mr.  Adams  made  in  the  final 
draft  some  changes  of  form,  which  were  certainly  proper  as  a 
matter  of  national  dignity,  but  which  threatened  to  create  further 
delay.  This  appears  for  a  moment  to  have  disturbed  Gallatin's 
equanimity;  but  Mr.  Adams  carried  his  point,  Mr.  Robinson 
made  no  difficulty,  and  the  disagreement  ended  by  Gallatin 
saying  to  Adams :  "  Well,  they  got  over  the  transpositions  very 
easily ;  but  you  would  not  have  found  it  so  if  Dr.  Adams  had 
had  the  reading  of  your  copy  instead  of  Robinson."  "  I  said, 
that  might  be,"  was  Mr.  Adams's  final  entry. 

That  evening  Mr.  Gallatin  dined  for  the  last  time  during 
these  negotiations  with  Mr.  Alexander  Baring,  now  and  ever 
afterwards  his  warm  friend,  who  had  done  more  than  any  other 
man  in  England,  or  perhaps,  with  one  exception,  even  in  Amer- 
ica, to  hasten  the  peace,  and  who  had,  with  the  knowledge  and 
consent  of  his  own  government,  rendered  very  important  finan- 
cial assistance  even  while  the  war  was  going  on.  There  had 
been  much  social  entertainment  in  London,  part  of  which  is 
recorded  in  Mr.  Adams's  Diary ;  but  the  only  English  friend 
Mr.  Gallatin  ever  made  whose  society  he  greatly  enjoyed,  and 
whose  character  he  deeply  respected,  was  Mr.  Baring. 


181 5.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  -  553 

On  July  4,  Mr.  Gallatin  began  his  homeward  journey,  and, 
after  the  usual  delays,  he  reached  America  early  in  September. 
On  the  4th  of  that  month  he  wrote  from  New  York  to  President 
Madison:  "I  received  the  account  of  my  appointment  to  France 
with  pleasure  and  gratitude,  as  an  evidence  of  your  undiminished 
friendship  and  of  public  satisfaction  for  my  services.  Whether 
I  can  or  will  accept,  I  have  not  yet  determined.  The  season 
will  be  far  advanced  for  taking  Mrs.  Gallatin  across  the  Atlan- 
tic, and  I  have  had  no  time  to  ascertain  what  arrangements,  if 
any,  I  can  make  for  my  children  and  private  business  during  a 
second  absence.  The  delay  has  been  rather  advantageous  to  the 
public,  as  it  was  best  to  have  no  minister  at  Paris  during  the 
late  events." 

GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

6th  September,  1815. 

I  was  much  gratified  by  the  receipt  of  your  kind  letter  of 
March  last,  brought  by  Mr.  Ticknor.  Your  usual  partiality  to 
me  is  evinced  by  the  belief  that  our  finances  might  have  been 
better  directed  if  I  had  remained  in  the  Treasury.  But  I  always 
thought  that  our  war  expenses  were  so  great;  perhaps  necessarily 
so  in  proportion  to  the  ordinary  resources  of  the  country ;  and 
the  opposition  of  the  moneyed  men  so  inveterate,  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  avoid  falling  into  a  paper  system  if  the  war  should  be 
much  longer  protracted.  I  only  regret  that  specie  payments 
were  not  resumed  on  the  return  of  peace.  Whatever  difficulties 
may  be  in  the  way,  they  cannot  be  insuperable,  provided  the 
subject  be  immediately  attended  to.  If  delayed,  private  interest 
will  operate  here  as  in  England,  and  lay  us  under  the  curse  of  a 
depreciated  and  fluctuating  currency.  In  every  other  respect  I 
must  acknowledge  that  the  war  has  been  useful.  The  character 
of  America  stands  now  as  high  as  ever  on  the  European  Conti- 
nent, and  higher  than  ever  it  did  in  Great  Britain.  I  may  say 
that  we  are  favorites  everywhere  except  at  courts,  and  even  there, 
although  the  Emperor  of  Russia  is  perhaps  the  only  sovereign 
who  likes  us,  we  are  generally  respected  and  considered  as  the 
nation  designed  to  check  the  naval  despotism  of  England. 
France,  which  alone  can  have  a  navy,  will,  under  her  present 


554  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALL  ATI  N.  1815. 

dynasty,  be  for  some  years  a  vassal  of  her  great  rival,  and  the 
mission  with  which  I  have  been  honored  is  in  a  political  view 
unimportant.  The  revolution  lias  not,  however,  been  altogether 
useless.  There  is  a  visible  improvement  in  the  agriculture  of 
the  country  and  the  situation  of  the  peasantry.  The  new  genera- 
tion belonging  to  that  class,  freed  from  the  petty  despotism  of 
nobles  and  priests,  and  made  more  easy  in  their  circumstances 
by  the  abolition  of  tithes  and  by  the  equalization  of  taxes,  have 
acquired  an  independent  spirit,  and  are  far  superior  to  their 
fathers  in  intellect  and  information.  They  are  not  republicans, 
and  are  still  too  much  dazzled  by  military  glory,  but  I  think  that 
no  monarch  or  ex-nobles  can  hereafter  oppress  them  long  with 
impunity. 

The  first  question  that  pressed  for  an  answer  regarded  the 
mission  to  France,  but  behind  this  a  more  serious  subject  pre- 
sented itself;  Mr.  Gallatin  must  now  decide  what  provision 
he  could  make  for  his  children.  This  anxiety  weighed  upon 
his  mind  and  caused  much  anxious  thought  and  much  hesi- 
tation in  his  conclusions.  Fortunately,  he  had  but  the  trouble 
of  choice.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months,  one  by  one,  the  doors 
of  every  avenue  to  distinction  or  wealth  were  thrown  open  to 
him.  The  mission  to  France  came  first,  and  this,  on  the  23d 
November,  he  declined,  alleging  as  his  reason  the  private  duties 
which  required  his  attention  to  the  interests  of  his  children. 
Meanwhile,  on  the  23d  September,  1815,  Richard  Bache  wrote 
to  him  from  Philadelphia,  as  follows :  "  A  number  of  the  con- 
ferees appointed  to  nominate  a  Democratic  candidate  to  represent 
this  district  in  the  next  Congress  having  met  together  last  evening, 
it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  nominate  you,  should  you  consent 
to  serve.  .  .  .  We  all  anxiously  hope  that  it  will  be  consistent 
with  your  views  to  stand  as  a  candidate,  and  we  assure  you  that 
we  are  confident  of  success." 

If  ambition  were  his  object,  this  invitation  opened  to  Mr. 
Gallatin  the  path  to  Congress,  and  a  seat  in  the  Senate  might 
reasonably  be  assumed  as  standing  not  far  in  the  distance.  Mr. 
Gallatin's  reply  was  written  the  next  day :  "  I  am  more  gratified 
by  the  mark  of  confidence  given  me  by  the  Republican  conferees 


1815.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  555 

of  the  Philadelphia  district  than  I  can  express.  But  I  cannot 
serve  them  in  the  station  with  which  they  would  honor  me.  My 
property  is  not  half  sufficient  to  support  me  anywhere  but  in 
the  western  country.  To  my  private  business  and  to  making 
arrangements  for  entering  into  some  active  business  I  must 
necessarily  and  immediately  attend.  It  is  a  duty  I  owe  to  my 
family." 

A  few  days  later,  on  the  9th  October,  his  friend  Mr.  John 
Jacob  Astor  wrote  him  a  long  letter  proposing  that  he  should 
become  a  partner  in  Mr.  Astor's  commercial  house.  He  had,  he 
said,  at  that  time  a  capital  of  about  $800,000  engaged  in  trade. 
He  estimated  his  probable  profits  at  from  $50,000  to  $100,000 
per  annum,  interest  and  all  expenses  deducted.  "  I  propose  to 
give  you  an  interest  of  one-fifth,  on  which  I  mean  to  charge  you 
the  legal  interest ;  if  you  put  any  funds  to  the  stock,  interest  will 
be  allowed  to  you  of  course." 

On  the  4th  December,  Mr.  Monroe  wrote  to  him :  "  To  your 
other  letter  I  have  felt  a  repugnance  to  give  a  reply.  We  have 
been  long  in  the  public  service  together,  engaged  in  support  of 
the  same  great  cause,  have  acted  in  harmony,  and  it  is  distressing 
to  me  to  see  you  withdraw.  I  will  write  you  again  on  this  sub- 
ject soon."  He  did  write  again,  on  the  16th,  urging  new  reasons 
why  Mr.  Gallatin  should  accept  the  French  mission.  To  this 
letter  Mr.  Gallatin  made  the  following  reply : 


GALLATIN   TO   MONROE. 


YORK,  26th  December,  1815. 
DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  received  your  friendly  letters  of  4th  and 
16th  instant,  and  have  a  grateful  sense  of  the  motives  which  dic- 
tated them.  I  can  assure  you  that  I  feel  a  great  reluctance  to 
part  with  my  personal  and  political  friends,  and  that  every  con- 
sideration merely  personal  to  myself  and  detached  from  my  family 
urges  a  continuance  in  public  life.  My  habits  are  formed  and 
cannot  be  altered.  I  feel  alive  to  everything  connected  with  the 
interest,  happiness,  and  reputation  of  the  United  States.  What- 
ever affects  unfavorably  either  of  them  makes  me  more  unhappy 
than  any  private  loss  or  inconvenience.  Although  I  have  no- 


556  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1816. 

thing  to  do  with  it,  the  continued  suspension  of  specie  payments, 
which  I  consider  as  a  continued  unnecessary  violation  of  the 
public  faith,  occupies  my  thoughts  more  than  any  other  subject. 
I  feel  as  a  passenger  in  a  storm, — vexed  that  I  cannot  assist. 
This  I  understand  to  be  very  generally  the  feeling  of  every 
statesman  out  of  place.  Be  this  as  it  may,  although  I  did  and 
do  believe  that  for  the  present  at  least  I  could  not  be  of  much 
public  utility  in  France,  I  did  in  my  private  letter  to  the  Presi- 
dent place  my  declining  on  the  ground  of  private  considerations. 
In  that  respect  my  views  are  limited  to  the  mere  means  of  exist- 
ence without  falling  in  debt.  I  do  not  wish  to  accumulate 
any  property.  I  will  not  do  my  family  the  injury  of  impairing 
the  little  I  have.  My  health  is  frail ;  they  may  soon  lose  me, 
and  I  will  not  leave  them  dependent  on  the  bounty  of  others. 
Was  I  to  go  to  France,  and  my  compensation  and  private  income 
(this  last  does  not  exceed  $2500  a  year)  did  not  enable  me  to  live 
as  I  ought,  I  must  live  as  I  can.  I  ask  your  forgiveness  for  enter- 
ing in  those  details,  but  you  have  treated  me  as  a  friend,  and  I 
write  to  you  as  such.  You  have  from  friendship  wished  that  I 
would  reconsider  my  first  decision,  and  I  will  avail  myself  of  the 
permission.  It  will  be  understood  that  in  the  mean  while,  if  the 
delay  is  attended  with  any  public  inconvenience,  a  new  appoint- 
ment may  immediately  take  place.  My  motive  for  writing  when 
I  did  was  a  fear  that,  specially  with  respect  to  other  missions, 
the  belief  that  I  would  go  to  France  might  induce  the  President 
to  make  different  arrangements  from  those  he  would  have  adopted 
on  a  contrary  supposition. 

On  the  27th  January,  1816,  Mr.  Monroe  replied  by  again 
urging  Mr.  Gallatin  to  accept,  and  pressing  for  a  quick  decision. 
On  the  2d  February  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  his  final  acceptance. 

GALLATIN   TO   JEFFERSON. 

WASHINGTON,  1st  April,  1816. 

.  .  .  After  what  I  had  written  to  you  you  could  hardly  have 
expected  that  I  would  have  accepted  the  French  mission.  It  was 
again  offered  to  me  in  so  friendly  a  manner  and  from  so  friendly 


1816.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  557 

motives  that  I  was  induced  to  accept.  Nor  will  I  conceal  that  I 
did  not  feel  yet  old  enough,  or  had  I  philosophy  enough,  to  go 
into  retirement  and  abstract  myself  altogether  from  public  affairs. 
I  have  no  expectation,  however,  that  in  the  present  state  of 
France  I  can  be  of  any  utility  there,  and  hope  that  I  will  not 
make  a  long  stay  in  that  country.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Gallatin,  like  most  men,  had  the  faculty  of  deceiving 
himself.  In  writing  these  lines,  he  was  so  inconsistent  as  to 
ignore  the  fact  that  he  had  already  refused  to  return  to  public 
life  on  the  ground  that  he  must  provide  for  his  family.  He  was 
driven  into  still  greater  inconsistencies  a  few  days  later. 


MADISON   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON",  April  12,  1816. 

DEAR  SIR, — Mr.  Dallas  has  signified  to  me  that,  it  being  his  in- 
tention not  to  pass  another  winter  in  Washington,  he  has  thought 
it  his  duty  to  give  me  an  opportunity  of  selecting  a  successor 
during  the  present  session  of  Congress;  intimating  a  willingness, 
however,  to  remain,  if  desired,  in  order  to  put  the  National  Bank 
in  motion. 

Will  it  be  most  agreeable  to  you  to  proceed  on  your  mission  to 
France,  or  are  you  willing  again  to  take  charge  of  a  department 
heretofore  conducted  by  you  with  so  much  reputation  and  useful- 
ness, on  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Dallas,  which  will,  it  is  presumed, 
take  effect  about  the  1st  of  October?  In  the  latter  case  it  will 
be  proper  that  a  nomination  be  forthwith  made  for  the  foreign 
appointment.  Favor  me  with  your  determination  as  soon  as  you 
can  make  it  convenient,  accepting  in  the  mean  time  my  affectionate 
respects. 

There  could  be  no  possible  doubt  that  in  this  case  ambition 
and  public  duty  went  hand  in  hand.  If  Mr.  Gallatin  still  felt 
a  passion  for  power,  or  still  thought  himself  able  to  do  good, 
this  was  his  opportunity.  His  warm  friend  Joseph  H.  Nichol- 
son wrote  at  once  with  all  his  old  impetuosity  to  urge  his 
acceptance. 


558  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1816. 


JOSEPH  H.  NICHOLSON   TO   GALLATIN. 

13th  April,  1816. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  this  moment  learned  that  Dallas  is 
certainly  going  out.  For  God's  sake  come  into  the  Treasury 
again.  I  think  you  must  be  satisfied  that  you  can  if  you  will ; 
and  I  am  satisfied,  and  so  is  all  the  world,  that  you  can  be  in- 
finitely more  useful  there  than  in  France,  where  you  have  nothing 
to  gain  and  may  lose.  I  think  you  will  be  looked  to  for  the 
Treasury  by  all  parties  except  Duane's. 


GALLATIN   TO   MADISON. 


YORK,  April  18,  1816. 
DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  letter  of  the  12th  reached  me  only  the  day 
before  yesterday,  and,  not  willing  to  make  a  hasty  decision,  I 
have  delayed  an  answer  till  to-day.  I  feel  very  grateful  for  your 
kind  offer,  which  I  know  to  have  been  equally  owing  to  your 
friendship  for  me  and  to  your  views  of  public  utility.  I  decline 
it  with  some  reluctance,  because  I  think  I  would  be  more  useful 
at  home  than  abroad,  and  I  had  much  rather  be  in  America  than 
in  Europe.  The  reasons  which  induce  me  nevertheless  to  decline, 
under  existing  circumstances,  preponderate.  With  these  I  do 
not  mean  to  trouble  you,  and  will  only  mention  that,  although 
competent  as  I  think  to  the  higher  duties  of  office,  there  is  for 
what  I  conceive  a  proper  management  of  the  Treasury  a  neces- 
sity for  a  mass  of  mechanical  labor  connected  with  details,  forms, 
calculations,  &c.,  which,  having  now  lost  sight  of  the  thread  and 
routine,  I  cannot  think  of  again  learning  and  going  through.  I 
know  that  in  that  respect  there  is  now  much  confusion  due  to 
the  changes  of  office  and  the  state  of  the  currency,  and  I  believe 
that  an  active  young  man  can  alone  reinstate  and  direct  properly 
that  department.  I  may  add  that  I  have  made  a  number  of 
arrangements  founded  on  the  expectation  of  the  French  mission, 
of  a  short  residence  there,  and  of  a  last  visit  to  my  Geneva  rela- 
tions, which  could  not  be  undone  without  causing  inconvenience 
to  me  and  disappointment  to  others.  Accept  my  grateful  thanks 


1816.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  559 

and  the  assurance  of  my  constant  and  sincere  attachment  and 
respect. 

Your  obedient  servant. 

This  letter  shows  rather  a  wish  to  find  excuses  than  a  faith  in 
the  weight  of  those  alleged.  There  was  clearly  no  weight  in 
them  such  as  could  justify  Mr.  Gallatin's  refusal;  had  he 
accepted  the  Treasury  he  would  probably  have  held  it  twelve 
years,  unless  he  had  himself  chosen  to  retire,  for  although  he 
appears  rather  to  have  favored  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Tompkins, 
of  New  York,  than  of  Mr.  Monroe,  for  the  succession  to  Presi- 
dent Madison,  this  probably  indicated  merely  his  unwillingness  to 
exhaust  public  patience  with  indefinite  Virginia  supremacy,  and 
did  not  imply  hostility  to  Monroe,  who  would  doubtless  'have 
retained  him  in  the  Cabinet,  and  to  whom  he  would  have  been 
far  more  acceptable  than  the  actual  Secretary,  William  H.  Craw- 
ford. Gallatin,  too,  would  have  made  a  much  better  Secretary 
than  Crawford,  and  Mr.  Monroe  would  have  been  spared  most 
of  the  political  intrigue  in  his  Cabinet  that  caused  him  such  in- 
cessant vexation-;  the  national  finances  would  have  been  better 
managed,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  would  have  enjoyed  the  triumph  of 
restoring  specie  payments,  practically  extinguishing  the  national 
debt,  and  possibly  carrying  out  his  schemes  for  internal  improve- 
ment. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  evident  fact  sufficiently  explains  why 
he  was  unwilling  to  resume  his  old  post.  The  signature  of 
the  treaty  of  Ghent,  on  the  25th  December,  1814,  had  closed 
one  great  epoch  in  his  life,  and,  looking  back  from  that  stand- 
point upon  the  events  of  his  political  career,  he  could  not  avoid 
some  very  unpleasant  conclusions.  Kiper,  wiser,  and  infinitely 
more  experienced  than  in  1800,  Gallatin  had  still  lost  qualities 
which,  to  a  politician,  were  more  important  than  either  experi- 
ence, wisdom,  or  maturity.  He  had  outgrown  the  convictions 
which  had  made  his  strength  ;  he  had  not,  indeed,  lost  confidence 
in  himself,  for,  throughout  all  his  trials  and  disappointments,  the 
tone  of  his  mind  had  remained  as  pure  as  when  he  began  life, 
and  he  had  never  forfeited  his  self-respect;  but  he  had  lost 
something  which,  to  his  political  success,  was  even  more  neces- 


560  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1816. 

sary  ;  that  sublime  confidence  in  human  nature  which  had  given 
to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  party  their  single  irresistible  claim  to 
popular  devotion.  His  statesmanship  had  become,  what  practical 
statesmanship  always  has  and  must  become,  a  mere  struggle  to 
deal  with  concrete  facts  at  the  cost  of  philosophic  and  a  priori 
principles.  Gallatin,  like  Madison  and  Monroe,  like  Clay  and 
Calhoun,  had  outgrown  the  Jeifersonian  dogmas.  There  was  no 
longer  any  great  unrealized  conviction  on  which  to  build  enthu- 
siasm ;  and  even  on  those  questions  which  were  likely  to  arise, 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  rather  in  sympathy  with  his  old  opponents 
than  with  his  old  friends  or  his  old  self.  The  following  letter 
could  hardly  have  been  written  in  1801  by  Mr.  Gallatin  or 
received  by  Matthew  Lyon. 


GALLATIN   TO   MATTHEW  LYON. 

NEW  YORK,  May  7,  1816. 

.  .  .  The  war  has  been  productive  of  evil  and  good,  but  I 
think  the  good  preponderates.  Independent  of  the  loss  of  lives 
and  of  the  losses  in  property  by  individuals,  the  war  has  laid  the 
foundation  of  permanent  taxes  and  military  establishments  which 
the  Republicans  had  deemed  unfavorable  to  the  happiness  and 
free  institutions  of  the  country.  But  under  our  former  system 
we  were  becoming  too  selfish,  too  much  attached  exclusively  to 
the  acquisition  of  wealth,  above  all,  too  muph  confined  in  our 
political  feelings  to  local  and  State  objects.  The  war  has  re- 
newed and  reinstated  the  national  feelings  and  character  which 
the  Revolution  had  given,  and  which  were  daily  lessened.  The 
people  have  now  more  general  objects  of  attachment  with  which 
their  pride  and  political  opinions  are  connected.  They  are  more 
Americans ;  they  feel  and  act  more  as  a  nation,  and  I  hope  that 
the  permanency  of  the  Union  is  thereby  better  secured.  ...  I 
have  lost  three  old  friends :  Mr.  Savary,  Thomas  Clare,  and  Mr. 
Smilie. 

He  had  come  into  office  in  1801,  with  power  more  complete 
than  he  could  ever  hope  to  enjoy  again ;  his  aims  and  his  methods 
had  been  pure,  unselfish,  and  noble ;  yet  he  had  been  the  sport 


1816.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  561 

of  faction  and  the  victim  of  bitter  personal  hatred.  He  had 
no  fancy  for  repeating  the  experience.  Moreover,  there  was  no 
longer  any  essential  disagreement  among  the  people  in  regard  to 
political  dogmas.  Federalists  and  Republicans  had  fused  their 
theories  into  a  curious  compound,  of  which  this  letter  to 
Matthew  Lyon  gives  an  idea,  and  upon  the  ground  thus  formed 
all  parties  were  now  glad  to  unite,  at  least  for  a  time.  There 
remained  no  sufficient  force,  perhaps  no  sufficient  prejudice,  to 
overbalance  the  natural  tendency  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  mind  towards 
science  and  repose. 

The  seven  years  he  passed  in  Paris  were  the  most  agreeable 
years  of  his  life.  Far  the  best  diplomatist  in  the  service,  he  was 
indispensable  to  his  government,  and  was  incessantly  employed 
in  all  its  most  difficult  negotiations,  so  far  as  they  could  be 
brought  within  his  reach.  Conscious  of  his  peculiar  fitness  for 
diplomacy,  weary  of  domestic  intrigue,  and  indifferent  to  the 
possession  of  power,  he  dismissed  his  early  ambitions  and  polit- 
ical projects  not  only  without  regret,  but  with  positive  relief. 

GALLATIN   TO   MADISON. 


YORK,  7th  June,  1816. 
...  I  am  urging  the  captain  of  the  Peacock,  and  still  hope 
that  he  will  be  ready  to  sail  the  day  after  to-morrow.  I  almost 
envy  you  the  happy  time  which  you  will  spend  this  summer  in 
Orange,  and  which  will  not,  I  hope,  be  disturbed  by  any  untoward 
change  in  our  affairs.  I  think  that,  upon  the  whole,  we  have 
nothing  to  apprehend  at  this  time  from  any  foreign  quarter. 
You  already  know  how  thoroughly  impressed  I  am  with  the 
necessity  of  restoring  specie  payments.  This  subject  will  not 
disturb  you  in  the  country,  but  the  present  state  of  the  currency 
is  the  only  evil  of  any  magnitude  entailed  by  the  war,  and  which 
it  seems  incumbent  on  us  (pardon  the  expression)  to  cure  radi- 
cally. Public  credit,  private  convenience,  the  sanctity  of  con- 
tracts, the  moral  character  of  the  country,  appear  all  to  be 
involved  in  that  question,  and  I  feel  the  most  perfect  conviction 
that  nothing  but  the  will  of  government  is  wanted  to  reinstate 
us  in  that  respect.  The  choice  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 

36 


562  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1816. 

is,  under  those  circumstances,  important,  and  I  am  sorry  that 
Mr.  Crawford,  as  I  am  informed,  has  declined  the  appointment. 
I  wish  it  may  fall  on  Mr.  Lowndes  or  on  Mr.  Calhoun.  Our 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  politicians,  without  excepting  some 
of  the  most  virtuous  and  whom  I  count  amongst  my  best  friends, 
are  paper-tainted.  The  disease  extends,  though  more  particularly 
to  this  State. 

I  beg  you  to  forgive  this  digression  on  a  subject  which  I  had 
no  intention  to  touch  when  I  began  this  letter. 

On  the  9th  July,  Mr.  Gallatin,  now  accompanied  by  all  his 
family,  arrived  in  Paris.  There  he  remained  until  June,  1823. 
During  these  seven  years  his  connection  with  American  politics 
was  almost  absolutely  severed.  His  only  political  correspondent 
was  Mr.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  wrote  him 
long  and  confidential  letters,  little  calculated  to  excite  in  Mr. 
Gallatin  the  slightest  desire  to  share  in  the  political  game.  In- 
deed, politics  had  now  become  so  exclusively  a  game  in  the 
United  States,  all  vestige  of  party  principles  and  all  trace  of 
deep  convictions  had  so  entirely  vanished,  that  a  statesman  of 
the  old  school  had  no  longer  a  place  in  public  life.  Petty  fac- 
tions grouped  themselves  about  Crawford,  Clay,  Adams,  Calhoun^ 
De  "Witt  Clinton,  and  General  Jackson,  and  political  action  was 
regulated  by  antipathies  rather  than  by  public  interest.  If  any 
one  of  these  leaders  seemed  to  be  gaining  an  advantage,  the  fol- 
lowers of  all  the  others  combined  to  pull  him  down.  Mr.  Craw- 
ford's correspondence  dealt  largely  in  matters  of  this  sort,  and 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  familiar  enough  with  the  style  of  intrigue  to 
feel  himself  happy  in  escaping  it. 

If  there  was  little  to  regret  at  Washington,  there  was  much 
to  enjoy  in  Paris.  There  Mr.  Gallatin's  position  was  peculiarly 
enviable.  The  United  States,  though  a  republic,  was,  in  the 
royalist  jargon  of  the  French  Court,  a  "  legitimate"  government. 
Its  minister  held  a  position  which  in  itself  was  neither  good 
nor  bad,  but  which  was  capable  of  becoming  the  one  or  the 
other,  according  to  the  character  of  the  man.  In  Gallatin's 
hands  it  was  excellent.  Not  only  was  Mr.  Gallatin  a  man  of 
refinement  in  manners,  tastes,  and  expression,  a  man  of  dignified 


1S1G.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  563 

and  persuasive  address,  such  as  suited  the  highly  exacting  society 
of  Paris  under  Louis  XVIII. ;  he  had  a  passport  much  more 
effective  than  this  to  the  heart  of  French  society.  By  family 
he  was  one  of  themselves.  In  Geneva,  indeed,  where  republican 
institutions  prevailed,  there  were  no  titles  and  no  privileges 
attached  to  the  name  of  Gallatin ;  but  in  France  the  family  had 
been  received  as  noble  centuries  since,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  had 
presumedly  the  right  to  appear  before  Louis  XVIII.  as  the 
Comte  de  Gallatin,  had  he  chosen  to  do  so.  His  distant  cousin, 
then  minister  of  the  King  of  Wiirtemberg  at  Paris,  was,  in 
fact,  known  as  Comte  de  Gallatin,  a  royalist  and  conservative 
of  the  purest  breed,  but  closely  intimate  with  and  attached  to 
his  democratic  relative.  This  accident  of  noblesse  was  a  matter 
of  peculiar  and  exceptional  importance  at  this  Court,  which  was 
itself  an  accident  and  an  anomaly,  a  curious  fragment  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  floating,  a  mere  wreck,  on  the  turbulent 
ocean  of  French  democracy.  As  one  of  an  ancient  family  whom 
the  Kings  of  France  had  from  time  immemorial  recognized  as 
noble,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  kindly  received  at  Court ;  he  was  some- 
what a  favorite  with  the  King  and  the  royal  family,  and  it  is 
said  that  on  one  occasion  Louis,  in  complimenting  him  upon 
his  French,  maliciously  added,  "but  I  think  my  English  is 
better  than  yours ;"  a  remark  which  must  have  called  up  in  the 
minds  of  both  a  curious  instantaneous  retrospect  and  comparison 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  had  learned  that  lan- 
guage,— a  retrospect  less  agreeable  to  the  King,  one  might  sup- 
pose, than  to  Mr.  Gallatin.  There  was  another  aristocratic  tie 
between  the  minister  and  Parisian  society.  As  already  shown, 
Mme.  de  Stael  had  established  relations  with  Mr.  Gallatin  on 
his  first  visit  to  Paris  before  the  negotiations  at  Ghent.  She 
had  been  very  useful  in  bringing  the  Emperor  Alexander  in 
contact  with  American  influences.  She  was  herself  by  birth 
and  residence  a  Genevan,  and  a  distant  relative  of  the  Gallatins. 
Her  daughter  was  married  to  the  Duke  de  Broglie  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1816,  and  as  a  consequence  Mr.  Gallatin  found  a  new- 
intimacy  ready  to  his  hand.  American  readers  of  the  Memoirs 
of  George  Ticknor  will  remember  how  much  the  Spanish  histo- 
rian owed  to  that  intimacy  with  the  Broglies,  which  he  obtained 


564  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1817. 

through  Mr.  Gallatin's  introduction,  among  others,  to  Mme.  de 
Stael. 

But  the  charm  of  Parisian  society  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  eyes  did 
not  consist  in  his  aristocratic  affiliations.  These  indeed  smoothed 
his  path  and  relieved  him  from  that  sense  of  awkward  strange- 
ness which  was  the  lot  of  most  American  diplomates  in  European 
society;  but  his  sympathies  lay  with  another  class  of  men. 
"  There  is  Talleyrand,"  said  he  to  Benjamin  Ogle  Tayloe,  when 
introducing  him  at  court ;  "  he  is  a  humbug,  unworthy  of  his 
reputation,  but  the  world  thinks  otherwise,  and  you  must  not 
speak  of  my  opinion."  The  apostles  of  legitimacy  and  the 
oracles  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  were  never  favorites  with 
him,  and  his  old  republican  principles  were  rather  revived 
than  weakened  by  this  contact  with  the  essence  of  all  he  had 
most  disliked  in  his  younger  and  more  ardent  days.  His  real 
sympathies  lay  with  the  men  of  science ;  with  Humboldt,  with 
La  Place,  or  with  pure  diplomatists  like  Pozzo  di  Borgo,  the 
brilliant  Russian  ambassador  at  Paris,  with  whom  his  relations 
were  close  and  confidential;  or,  finally,  with  French  liberals 
like  La  Fayette,  between  whom  and  all  Americans  the  kindest 
exchange  of  friendly  civilities  was  incessant.  Insufficient  as  the 
salary  of  American  minister  was,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  a  handsome 
establishment  and  entertained  as  freely  as  his  position  required. 
The  company  he  selected  as  a  matter  of  personal  choice  may  be 
partly  inferred  from  a  dinner  at  which  Mr.  Ogle  Tayloe  was 
present  in  1819 ;  La  Fayette,  the  Duke  de  Broglie,  his  brother- 
in-law,  De  Stael,  Lord  and  Lady  Ashburton  (Alexander  Baring), 
and  Baron  Humboldt.  "  Humboldt  talked  nearly  all  the  time 
in  good  English."  French  society  was,  however,  in  a  very  dis- 
turbed condition,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  did  not  always  find  it  easy  to 
avoid  embarrassments.  One  example  of  such  difficulties  occurred 
in  the  case  of  La  Place,  who  was  somewhat  sensitive  in  regard  to 
his  relations  with  the  reigning  family,  and  who,  on  finding  him- 
self about  to  be  seated  at  Mr.  Gallatin's  table  in  company  with  so 
obnoxious  a  Republican  as  La  Fayette,  was  seized  with  a  sudden 
illness  and  obliged  to  return  home. 

Social  amusements,  however,  Mr.  Gallatin  regarded  very  much 
as  he  did  good  wine  or  good  cooking, — things  desirable  in  them- 


1817.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  565 

selves,  but  ending  with  the  momentary  gratification.  He  made 
no  record  of  this  evanescent  intellectual  flavor.  He  wrote  almost 
nothing  except  his  official  letters.  During  no  period  of  his  life 
are  his  memoranda  and  his  correspondence  so  meagre  and  unin- 
teresting as  now.  He  had  little  to  occupy  him  so  far  as  official 
work  was  concerned,  except  at  intervals  when  some  emergency 
arose,  and  at  first  he  chafed  at  this  want  of  interest.  He  was 
indeed  always  possessed  with  the  idea  that  he  would  rather  be  at 
home,  and  he  averred  every  year  with  great  regularity  that  he 
expected  to  return  in  the  following  summer.  This  is,  however, 
a  very  common  if  not  universal  rule  among  American  diplo- 
matists of  the  active  type.  In  reality,  Mr.  Gallatin  never  was 
so  happy  and  never  so  thoroughly  in  his  proper  social  sphere  as 
when  he  lived  in  Paris  and  talked  of  Indian  antiquities  with 
Humboldt,  of  bi-metallic  currency  with  Baring,  and  of  Spanish 
diplomacy  with  Pozzo  di  Borgo. 

Even  his  letters  to  Jefferson  show  his  self-reproachful  idle- 
ness: 

GALLATIN   TO    JEFFERSON. 

PARIS,  17th  July,  1817. 

DEAR  SIB, —  .  .  .  The  growing  prosperity  of  the  United 
States  is  an  object  of  admiration  for  all  the  friends  of  liberty 
in  Europe,  a  reproach  on  almost  all  the  European  governments. 
At  no  period  has  America  stood  on  higher  ground  abroad  than 
now,  and  every  one  who  represents  her  may  feel  a  just  pride  in 
the  contrast  between  her  situation  and  that  of  all  other  countries, 
and  in  the  feeling  of  her  perfect  independence  from  all  foreign 
powers.  This  last  sentiment  acquires  new  force  here  in  seeing 
the  situation  of  France,  under  the  guardianship  of  the  four  great 
potentates.  That  this  state  of  things  should  cease  is  in  every 
respect  highly  desirable.  Although  not  immediately  affected  by 
it,  we  cannot  but  wish  to  see  the  ancient  natural  check  of  Eng- 
land resume  its  place  in  the  system  of  the  civilized  world ;  and 
it  can  hardly  be  borne  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge,  that 
Austria  or  Russia  should  in  the  great  scale  stand  before  France. 
Indeed,  it  is  only  physical  power  that  now  prevails,  and  as  I  had 
most  sincerely  wished  that  France,  when  oppressing  others,  should 


566  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1817. 

be  driven  back  within  her  own  bounds,  I  may  be  allowed  to  sigh 
for  her  emancipation  from  foreign  yoke.  I  cannot  view  the  ar- 
rangements made  at  Vienna  as  calculated  to  ensure  even  tran- 
quillity. There  is  now  a  kind  of  torpid  breathing-spell;  but  the 
fire  is  not  extinct.  The  political  institutions  do  not  either  here, 
in  Italy,  or  even  in  Germany,  harmonize  with  the  state  of  knowl- 
edge, with  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  the  people.  What  must 
be  the  consequence  ?  New  conflicts  whenever  opportunity  will 
offer,  and  bloody  revolutions  effected  or  attempted,  instead  of 
that  happy,  peaceable,  and  gradual  improvement  which  philan- 
thropists had  anticipated,  and  which  seems  to  be  exclusively  the 
portion  of  our  happy  country. 

We  have  lately  lost  Mme.  de  Stae'l,  and  she  is  a  public  loss. 
Her  mind  improved  with  her  years  without  any  diminution  of 
her  fine  and  brilliant  genius.  She  was  a  power  by  herself,  and 
had  more  influence  on  public  opinion,  and  even  on  the  acts  of 
government,  than  any  other  person  not  in  the  ministry.  I  may 
add  that  she  was  one  of  your  most  sincere  admirers. 

I  thirst  for  America,  and  I  hope  that  the  time  is  not  distant 
when  I  may  again  see  her  shores  and  enjoy  the  blessings  which 
are  found  only  there.  There  I  also  hope  of  once  more  meeting 
with  you. 

Nevertheless,  Mr.  Gallatin  was  far  from  idle  during  these 
seven  years.  The  wars  in  Europe  had  left  a  long  train  of 
diplomatic  disputes  behind  them.  Commercial  treaties  were 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  American  commerce.  The  old 
difficulties  with  England  were  still  unsettled,  and  were  pressing 
for  settlement.  Spain  was  always  on  the  verge  of  war  with 
the  United  States,  both  in  respect  to  her  undecided  Florida 
boundary  and  the  status  of  her  revolted  American  colonies.  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  at  the  head  of  the  diplomatic  service,  highly  valued 
both  by  Mr.  Monroe,  by  Mr.  Adams,  who,  in  1817,  succeeded 
Mr.  Monroe  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  by  Mr.  Crawford,  who,  as 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  much  to  say  in  regard  to  questions 
of  foreign  commerce.  Perhaps  there  was  more  unanimity  among 
these  three  gentlemen,  in  their  opinions  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  than 
there  was  on  any  other  political  subject.  In  fact,  since  the  time 


1817.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  567 

of  Dr.  Franklin,  the  United  States  had  never  sent  a  minister 
abroad  with  qualifications  equal  to  his,  and  it  will  never  be  pos- 
sible to  find  a  minister  to  France  who  approaches  more  nearly 
the  highest  ideal ;  accordingly,  the  government  mainly  depended 
upon  him  for  its  work,  and  economized  his  services  by  employing 
him  freely  in  all  its  foreign  relations. 

The  immediate  object  of  sending  a  minister  to  France  was  to 
press  for  a  settlement  of  American  claims.  These  claims  ran 
back  ten  years  or  more,  to  the  time  of  the  Berlin  and  Milan  de- 
crees, when  large  numbers  of  American  ships  with  their  cargoes 
were  seized  and  confiscated,  or  destroyed  at  sea,  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  in  violation  of  every  principle  of  decency, 
equity,  and  law.  To  exact  a  settlement  of  these  claims  was 
one  of  the  points  on  which  our  country  was  most  determined ; 
to  elude  a  settlement  was  a  matter  of  equal  determination  with 
the  government  of  Louis  XVIII.  No  one,  least  of  all  the 
French  ministries  of  the  restoration,  denied  the  indignity  and 
the  outrage  of  the  robberies  committed  by  Napoleon,  nor  did 
they  quite  venture  to  assert  that  Louis  was  not  responsible 
for  the  acts  of  his  predecessor;  indeed,  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  first 
interview  with  the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  that  minister  frankly 
admitted  the  justice  of  the  demand,  and  only  asked  some  con- 
sideration for  the  helpless  condition  of  France,  weighed  to  the 
ground  by  indemnities  exacted  from  her  by  the  great  European 
powers.  But  this  was  only  a  temporary  weakness ;  Mr.  Gallatin 
very  soon  found  that  there  was  little  hope  of  obtaining  any 
formal  recognition,  much  less  any  settlement,  of  his  claims,  and 
he  saw  with  some  irritation  and  some  amusement  a  host  of 
difficulties,  side-issues,  petty  complaints,  and  assumed  quarrels, 
started  by  one  French  minister  after  another  to  distract  his  atten- 
tion and  check  his  pressure,  until  year  after  year  elapsed  with- 
out his  gaining  a  single  step,  and  at  last  the  minister  in  1823,  M. 
de  Chateaubriand,  ceased  to  pay  his  notes  any  attention  at  all, 
and  contented  himself  with  replying  that  they  did  not  alter  his 
view  of  the  subject.  This  exhausted  Mr.  Gallatin's  patience, 
and  he  roundly  told  M.  de  Chateaubriand  that  if  France  meant 
to  remain  friends  with  America,  her  conduct  must  be  changed. 
Simple  as  the  case  was,  Mr.  Gallatin  gained  nothing  in  seven 


568  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1818. 

years  of  patient  effort ;  his  elaborate  and  admirable  notes  were 
utterly  thrown  away ;  and  he  left  the  whole  question  at  last,  to 
all  appearance,  precisely  where  he  found  it. 

During  the  first  year  of  his  residence  abroad,  this  subject  of 
the  French  claims  was  the  only  one  which  occupied  his  attention, 
and  when  it  became  clear  that  the  French  government  would  do 
nothing  about  these,  he  complained  that  he  was  absolutely  with- 
out occupation.  In  July,  1817,  he  was  sent  to  the  Hague  to 
assist  Dr.  Eustis,  then  minister  there,  in  negotiating  a  commercial 
treaty  with  the  Netherlands.  This  negotiation  occupied  two 
months  and  was  also  a  failure.  The  Dutch  insisted  even  more 
pertinaciously  than  the  English  on  what  Mr.  Gallatin  called  the 
"preposterous  ground"  of  colonial  equivalents.  It  was  found 
impossible  even  to  stipulate  for  the  mutual  abandonment  of 
discriminating  duties,  a  stipulation  which  Mr.  Gallatin  regarded 
as  the  most  valuable  part  of  his  convention  with  England  in 
1815.  The  Dutch  insisted  that  a  repeal  of  discriminating  duties 
must  not  be  limited  merely  to  importations  of  the  produce  and 
manufactures  of  the  two  countries,  and  argued  with  great  force 
that  the  geographical  position  of  Holland  and  Belgium  made 
it  impossible  to  distinguish  between  their  own  produce  and  that 
brought  down  the  Khine  or  from  across  their  border.  To  this 
Mr.  Gallatin  could  only  reply  that  his  government  could  not 
offer  more  than  fair  reciprocity,  and  that  the  abolition  of  dis- 
criminating duties  such  as  the  Dutch  claimed,  would  be  wholly 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  American  merchant  and  equally  so 
to  that  of  the  American  government  in  its  negotiations  with 
other  powers.  Yet,  if  the  Dutch  would  have  conceded  the  first 
point  of  admitting  American  vessels  on  favorable  terms  to  their 
East  India  colonies,  some  compromise  might  have  been  effected 
in  regard  to  the  discriminating  duties ;  in  the  inability  to  effect 
any  transaction  of  this  sort,  the  negotiation  was  in  a  friendly  way 
adjourned. 

In  the  following  year  Mr.  Gallatin  was  employed  on  a  more 
serious  mission.  The  commercial  convention  of  July  3,  1815, 
which  he  had  negotiated  in  London  after  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
would  expire  by  limitation  in  July,  1819,  and  a  timely  agree- 
ment with  the  British  government  in  regard  to  its  renewal  was 


1818  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  569 

very  desirable.  The  opportunity  was  taken  by  the  President  to 
reopen  negotiations  on  the  whole  range  of  disputed  points  left 
unsettled  by  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  or  arising  under  that  treaty. 
As  for  impressment,  indeed,  Lord  Castlereagh  had  very  recently 
again  declined  the  American  proposals  for  a  settlement,  and  the 
subject  was  therefore  not  pressed;  but  the  fisheries,  the  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  Canada  and  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
boundary  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  were  all 
added  to  the  negotiation ;  indemnity  for  slaves  carried  away  under 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  to  be  urged ;  and  the  serious  character 
of  the  dispute  over  the  North- West  boundary  was  just  beginning 
to  make  itself  evident  in  connection  with  Mr.  Astor's  trading 
settlement  on  the  Columbia  River. 

Mr.  Richard  Rush  was  then  the  American  minister  in  Eng- 
land ;  he  had  been  called  into  public  life  by  Gallatin,  who  made 
him  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  and  presumably  urged  him 
for  the  place  of  Attorney-General,  to  which  post  he  had  been 
appointed  on  the  retirement  of  William  Pinkney  in  1811.  With 
him  Mr.  Gallatin  was  on  most  friendly  terms,  and  Mr.  Rush 
welcomed  with  great  pleasure,  what  is  always  a  somewhat  deli- 
cate act,  the  intrusion  of  a  third  person  in  his  relations  with 
the  government  to  which  he  was  accredited.  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
ordered  to  England,  where  he  arrived  August  16, 1818,  and  was 
occupied  till  the  end  of  October,  his  "necessary  and  reasonable 
expenses'7  being,  as  usual,  his  only  remuneration. 

The  negotiation  with  England  of  1818  was  not  very  much 
more  fruitful  in  result  than  that  of  1815;  nevertheless  the  two 
countries  had  made  some  progress.  On  the  one  hand,  Lord 
Castlereagh  was  still  far  in  advance  of  public  sentiment  and  had 
done  something  towards  breaking  down  the  insular  arrogance  of 
the  colonial  and  navigation  system;  on  the  other  hand,  the  United 
States  government  had  plucked  up  courage  to  hasten  the  rapidity 
of  British  movements  by  retaliatory  legislation  of  its  own.  Early 
in  1817  Congress  passed  two  acts,  by  one  of  which  British  ves- 
sels were  prohibited  from  importing  into  the  United  States  any 
articles  other  than  those  which  were  produced  or  manufactured 
within  the  British  dominions ;  by  the  other  a  tonnage  duty  of 
two  dollars  a  ton  was  levied  on  all  foreign  vessels  entering  the 


570  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1818. 

United  States  from  any  foreign  port  with  which  vessels  of  the 
United  States  were  not  ordinarily  permitted  to  trade.  A  year 
later,  shortly  before  Mr.  Gallatin  was  sent  to  England,  Congress 
had  gone  one  step  further,  and  had  absolutely  closed  the  ports  of 
the  United  States  against  every  British  vessel  coming  from  ports 
ordinarily  closed  against  vessels  of  the  United  States. 

This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  with  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
and  Mr.  Rush  had  to  deal.  As  in  1815,  the  British  govern- 
ment was  represented  by  Mr.  Frederic  Robinson,  now  president 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  assisted  by  Mr.  Goulburn.  The  Amer- 
ican commissioners  offered  five  articles,  covering  the  fisheries,  the 
boundary,  the  West  India  trade,  that  with  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick,  and  the  captured  slaves.  The  English  plenipoten- 
tiaries offered  a  scheme  for  regulating  impressment.  Finally, 
the  Americans  proposed  a  series  of  rules  in  regard  to  contraband 
and  maritime  points. 

The  result  of  repeated  conferences  was  to  throw  out  the  articles 
on  maritime  rights  and  impressment,  and  to  refer  the  West  India 
article  to  the  President.  A  convention  limited  to  ten  years  was 
then  signed  covering  the  fisheries,  the  boundary  between  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  joint  use  of 
the  Columbia  River,  the  slave  indemnity,  and  finally  the  renewal 
of  the  commercial  convention  of  1815.  On  the  whole,  there 
was  certainly  a  considerable  improvement  in  the  relations  of  the 
two  countries;  even  in  the  matter  of  impressments,  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh  was  ready  to  concede  very  nearly  all  that  was  required ; 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  was  definitively  set  at  rest; 
even  in  regard  to  the  West  India  trade,  Mr.  Robinson  made 
very  liberal  concessions,  and  accepted  in  full  the  principle  that 
this  trade  should  be  thrown  open  on  principles  of  perfect  reci- 
procity. That  the  British  should  have  got  so  far  as  to  admit 
that  they  were  ready  to  open  this  trade  at  all  on  principles  of 
reciprocity  was  no  small  step,  but  when  Mr.  Gallatiu  undertook 
to  put  upon  paper  his  ideas  of  perfect  reciprocity,  it  was  found 
that  agreement  was  still  out  of  the  question.  He  required  that 
the  vessels  and  their  cargoes  should  on  either  side  be  subject  to 
no  charges  to  which  both  parties  should  not  be  equally  liable, 
while  the  British  insisted  upon  reserving  the  right  to  impose 


1818.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  571 

discriminating  duties  in  favor  of  the  trade  of  Nova  Scotia  and 
New  Brunswick.  Mr.  Kobinson  did  not,  however,  attempt  to 
defend  the  dogmas  of  the  British  colonial  and  navigation  laws ; 
he  only  urged  the  impossibility  of  breaking  them  down  at  once. 
To  the  American  argument  of  reciprocity  he  opposed  the  power- 
ful interests  he  was  obliged  to  humor, — the  fish  and  the  lumber 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick ;  the  salted  provisions  and 
the  flour  of  Ireland ;  the  shipping  of  England ;  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  West  India  planters  who  sat  in  Parliament  or  moved 
in  the  business  circles  of  the  city. 

There  could  be  little  doubt  that  the  new  retaliatory  legisla- 
tion of  the  United  States  would  sooner  or  later  bring  the  two 
countries  into  collision  on  this  old  subject  of  controversy;  for 
the  United  States  government  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  look 
back  with  pleasure  or  with  pride  upon  the  humiliations  which 
it  had  endured,  ever  since  the  peace  of  1783,  on  this  point  of 
the  colonial  trade.  Perhaps  it  had  now  a  tendency  to  assert  its 
rights  and  its  dignity  in  a  tone  somewhat  too  abrupt,  and  even 
unnecessarily  irritating  to  European  ears.  The  new-born  sense 
of  nationality  with  which,  since  the  peace  of  Ghent,  every 
American  citizen  was  swelling  would  tolerate  from  the  national 
government  nothing  short  of  the  fullest  assertion  of  the  national 
pride ;  and  political  parties  no  longer,  as  in  the  days  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  shrank  from  supporting  their  rights  by  force.  Mr. 
Gallatin  had  done  what  he  could  to  prevent  mischief,  and  it 
remained  to  be  seen  whether  his  efforts  were  to  be  successful. 
His  despatches  dwelt  repeatedly  on  the  intimation  of  Mr.  Kob- 
inson that  Great  Britain  was  certain  to  recede  if  she  were  allowed 
time  to  prepare,  and  that  unlimited  intercourse  with  the  colonies 
would  be  the  sure  result  of  such  a  partial  intercourse  as  he 
offered.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  United  States  were 
still  better  aware  that  English  diplomacy  was  inclined  to  respect 
very  little  except  strength. 

While  the  colonial  dispute  was  thus  left  open,  another  serious 
question  was  only  partially  closed.  On  the  subject  of  the  fish- 
eries, Mr.  Gallatin  effected  a  compromise  not  altogether  satis- 
factory even  to  himself;  he  obtained  an  express  recognition  of 
the  permanent  right,  but  he  was  obliged  to  concede  essential 


572  LIFE    OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1818. 

limitations  of  the  practice.  Perhaps,  indeed,  this  question  is 
one  of  those  which  admits  of  no  complete  settlement;  as  Mr. 
Gallatin  wrote  on  November  6  to  Mr.  Adams :  "  The  right  of 
taking  and  drying  fish  in  harbors  within  the  exclusive  juris- 
diction of  Great  Britain,  particularly  on  coasts  now  inhabited, 
was  extremely  obnoxious  to  her,  and  was  considered  as  what 
the  French  civilians  call  a  servitude.  ...  I  am  satisfied  that 
we  could  have  obtained  additional  fishing-ground  in  exchange 
of  the  words  '  for  ever.7  .  .  .  Yet  I  will  not  conceal  that  this 
subject  caused  me  more  anxiety  than  any  other  branch  of  the 
negotiations,  and  that,  after  having  participated  in  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  it  was  a  matter  of  regret  to  be  obliged  to  sign  an  agree- 
ment which  left  the  United  States  in  any  respect  in  a  worse 
situation  than  before  the  war.  .  .  .  But  ...  if  a  compromise 
was  to  take  place,  the  present  time  and  the  terms  proposed 
appeared  more  eligible  than  the  chance  of  future  contingen- 
cies. .  .  .  With  much  reluctance  I  yielded  to  those  considera- 
tions, rendered  more  powerful  by  our  critical  situation  with 
Spain,  and  used  my  best  endeavors  to  make  the  compromise  on 
the  most  advantageous  terms  that  could  be  obtained." 1 

On  his  return  to  Paris  in  October,  1818,  an  entirely  different 
class  of  objects  forced  themselves  on  Mr.  Gallatin's  attention. 
This  was  the  period  when  Spain's  American  colonies  were  in 
revolt,  and  it  was  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  United  States 
that  Europe  should  intervene  in  no  way  in  .the  quarrel.  Mr. 
Gallatin's  business  was  to  obtain  early  information  of  whatever 
concerned  this  subject,  and  to  prepare  the  European  powers  for 
the  recognition  by  the  United  States  of  the  South  American 
republics.  '  The  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  then  sitting, 
and  its  proceedings  were  an  object  of  intense  curiosity  through- 
out the  world.  So  far  as  the  policy  of  the  United  States  was 
concerned,  the  result  of  this  congress  was  very  favorable;  for 
Spain,  finding  herself  abandoned  by  Europe,  was  driven  into  a 
treaty  for  the  sale  of  Florida.  This  treaty  was  made,  but  its 
ratification  was  refused  by  the  Spanish  government  on  various 
pretexts,  until  a  new  revolution  in  Spain  brought  about  a  change 

1  Writings,  ii.  83,  84. 


1819.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  573 

of  policy.  In  all  these  transactions  Mr.  Gallatin  was  deeply 
interested,  and  his  advices  to  the  home  government  furnished 
much  of  its  best  information. 

Meanwhile,  his  powers  to  negotiate  a  commercial  convention 
with  France  had  lain  nearly  dormant,  until  in  1819  they  were 
called  out  by  a  complication  which  soon  brought  the  two  countries 
to  the  verge  of  a  commercial  war.  The  French  commercial  sys- 
tem had  never  been  a  very  enlightened  one,  but  so  long  as  her 
shipping  remained  in  the  state  of  nullity  in  which  the  long  wars 
left  it,  American  commerce  had  hardly  perceived  the  fact  that 
American  ships  were  loaded  with  extra  charges  and  discrimi- 
nating duties  such  as  made  quite  impossible  all  effective  competi- 
tion with  the  vessels  of  France.  When  at  last  the  French  com- 
mercial marine  revived,  complaints  of  the  excessive  burden  of 
these  discriminating  duties  and  charges  began  to  pour  in  from 
American  consuls  and  merchants.  The  question  was  one  of 
time  only,  when  all  commerce  between  the  United  States  and 
France  would  be  carried  on  exclusively  in  French  ships.  Well 
aware  that  the  French  government  was  entirely  controlled  in  its 
commercial  policy  by  the  spirit  of  monopoly  and  narrow  interests, 
Mr.  Gallatin,  while  remonstrating  to  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  warned  the  President  that  mere  remonstrance  would  have 
no  effect  and  that  stronger  measures  must  be  used.  He  would 
have  preferred  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  authorizing 
Congress  to  lay  an  export  duty  on  American  produce  when  ex- 
ported in  foreign  vessels ;  but,  rather  than  wait  for  so  distant  and 
uncertain  a  remedy,  he  recommended  that  Congress  should  at 
once  impose  a  countervailing  tonnage  duty  of  $12.50  per  ton  on 
French  ships.  This  despatch  was  written  on  the  25th  October, 
1819.  The  rest  of  the  story  may  be  found  recorded  in  Mr. 
Adams's  Diary : 

"May  15,  18£0.—  .  .  .  Mr.  Hyde  de  Neuville,  the  French 
minister,  was  there  [at  the  Capitol]  much  fretted  at  the  passage 
of  a  bill  for  levying  a  tonnage  duty  of  $18  a  ton  upon  French 
vessels,  to  commence  the  1st  July  next.  It  is  merely  a  counter- 
vailing duty  to  balance  discriminating  duties  in  France  upon  the 
same  articles  as  imported  in  French  or  American  vessels.  It 
passes  on  the  earnest  recommendation  of  Mr.  Gallatin  after  a 


574  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1820. 

neglect  of  three  years  by  the  French  government  of  our  repeated 
proposals  to  negotiate  a  commercial  treaty,  and  after  full  warn- 
ing given  by  Mr.  Gallatin  that,  if  they  did  not  come  to  some 
arrangement  with  us,  countervailing  measures  would  be  taken  at 
the  present  session  of  Congress.  The  bill  has  been  before  Con- 
gress half  the  session,  and  De  ISTeuville  had  never  mentioned  it 
to  me.  He  probably  had  flattered  himself  that  it  would  not 
pass.  Now,  after  it  had  passed  both  Houses,  he  was  in  great 
agitation  about  it,  and  entreated  me  to  ask  the  President  to  object 
to  its  passage,  at  least  to  postpone  its  commencement  till  the  1st 
of  October.  He  said  the  1st  of  July  was  only  six  weeks  off,  and 
would  not  even  give  the  French  merchants  notice  of  what  was 
awaiting  them.  ...  I  told  him  it  was  now  too  late  to  make  the 
amendment.  I  mentioned,  however,  his  request  to  the  Presi- 
dent, who  said  it  could  not  be  complied  with." 

"September  5,  1820. — I  received  a  despatch  of  14th  July 
from  A.  Gallatin,  after  Mr.  Hyde  de  Neuville  had  arrived  in 
Paris.  Gallatin  encloses  a  copy  of  a  very  able  note  that  he  had 
sent  to  Baron  Pasquier,  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
concerning  the  tonnage  duty  upon  French  vessels  coming  into  the 
ports  of  the  United  States,  laid  at  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
but  he  complains  that  the  measures  of  Congress,  which  he  had 
recommended,  were  not  adopted,  but  others  more  irritating  to 
France,  and  also  that  his  letters  were  published.  The  law  of 
Congress  was  certainly  a  blister,  and  his  letters  were  not  oil  to 
soften  its  application.  The  commencement  of  the  law  was  fixed 
too  soon,  and  the  duty  was  too  high.  But  France  had  been  so 
sluggish  and  so  deaf  to  friendly  representations  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  awaken  her  by  acts  of  another  tone." 

Certainly  government  was  much  to  blame  in  this  matter. 
Mr.  Gallatin  sent  over  a  careful  outline  of  the  bill  he  wished 
to  pass,  fixing  the  duty  at  $12.50  and  arranging  the  details  so 
as  to  facilitate  negotiation.  Government  proceeded  to  enact  an 
unjust  and  extravagant  bill,  and  then  threw  the  responsibility 
on  Mr.  Gallatin.  This  is  the  special  annoyance  to  which  diplo- 
matic agents  are  most  frequently  subjected.  Mr.  Gallatin  re- 
monstrated to  his  government  and  maintained  his  position  stoutly 
against  the  French  minister,  who,  after  at  once  doubling  the 


1821.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  575 

French  discriminating  duties,  at  last  transferred  the  negotiation 
to  Washington,  where  Mr.  Adams  was  obliged  to  take  it  up. 

"  February  24,  1821.— I  called  at  the  President's  with  a  note 
received  of  yesterday's  date  from  the  French  minister,  Hyde  de 
Neuville.  I  sent  him  two  or  three  days  since  the  copy  of  a  full 
power,  made  out  by  the  President's  direction,  authorizing  me  to 
treat  with  him  upon  commercial  arrangements.  The  note  of 
yesterday  was  introductory  to  the  negotiation.  Its  principal  ob- 
ject was  to  ask  an  answer  to  a  long  letter  which  De  Neuville  had 
written  to  me  the  16th  of  June,  1818,  upon  a  claim  raised  by  the 
French  government  upon  the  8th  article  of  the  Louisiana  cession 
treaty.  I  had  already  answered  one  long  note  of  his  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  had  left  his  reply  unanswered  only  to  avoid  altercation 
upon  a  claim  which  had  no  substance  and  upon  which  my  answer 
to  his  first  letter  was  of  itself  a  sufficient  answer  to  his  reply. 
But  when  after  the  Act  of  Congress  of  15th  May  last,  and  the 
retaliatory  ordinances  of  the  King  of  France  of  26th  July,  the 
French  government  had  been  dragged  into  this  negotiation,  find- 
ing themselves  unanswerably  pressed  by  notes  of  great  ability 
from  Gallatin,  they  started  from  the  course  by  setting  up  again 
this  Louisiana  claim  and  declaring  it  indispensably  connected 
with  the  arrangement  of  the  question  upon  discriminating  duties. 
And  as  Mr.  Gallatin  was  not  instructed  upon  the  Louisiana 
claim,  they  made  this  a  pretext  for  transferring  the  negotiation 
here,  and  sending  De  Neuville  back  here  to  finish  it,  with  an 
ulterior  destination  to  Brazil,  held  out  to  our  cotton-planters  '  in 
terrorem.' " 

But  if  Mr.  Adams  irritated  Mr.  Gallatin  by  the  manner  of 
carrying  out  his  recommendation  of  retaliatory  laws  against 
France,  Mr.  Gallatin  irritated  Mr.  Adams  by  his  treatment  of 
another  diplomatic  difficulty  still  more  delicate.  A  French  ship, 
the  Apollon,  had  been  seized  by  order  of  our  government  in  the 
river  St.  Mary's,  on  the  Spanish  side,  for  infringing  and  evading 
our  navigation  laws.  The  seizure  was  a  high-handed  act,  hardly 
defensible  in  law,  and  of  the  same  class  with  many  acts  rendered, 
or  supposed  to  be  rendered,  necessary  by  the  inefficiency  of  the 
Spanish  administration  in  Florida.  Mr.  Adams,  who  rarely 
allowed  himself  to  be  hindered  by  merely  technical  impediments 


576  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1821. 

in  carrying  out  a  correct  policy,  defended  this  act  much  as  he 
defended  the  far  more  unjustifiable  execution  of  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister  by  General  Jackson ;  that  is,  he  made  the  best  defence 
he  could,  and  carried  it  off  with  a  high  hand.  Mr.  Gallatin, 
however,  tried  to  justify  the  seizure  by  proving  that  it  took  place 
in  American  waters,  and  in  discussing  the  subject  in  correspond- 
ence with  Mr.  Adams  he  added  the  remark  which  was,  to  any 
one  who  knew  his  mode  of  thought,  quite  inevitable  as  his  sum- 
ming up,  that  the  tenor  of  Mr.  Adams's  argument  was  dangerous 
and  would  not  find  acceptance  in  Europe.  This  seems  to  have 
extremely  irritated  the  Secretary,  and  called  out  the  following 
entry  in  his  Diary : 

"  8th  November,  1821. — The  most  extraordinary  part  of 
Gallatin's  conduct  is  that  after  a  long  argument  to  the  French 
government  upon  grounds  entirely  new  and  different  from  those 
we  had  taken  here,  he  gives  us  distinctly  to  understand  that  he 
considers  all  these  grounds,  ours  and  his  own,  as  not  worth  a 
straw.  I  asked  Calhoun  to-day  what  he  thought  it  could  mean. 
He  said  perhaps  it  was  the  pride  of  opinion.  I  think  it  lies 
deeper.  Gallatin  is  a  man  of  first-rate  talents,  conscious  and 
vain  of  them,  and  mortified  in  his  ambition,  checked,  as  it  has 
been,  after  attaining  the  last  step  to  the  summit ;  timid  in  great 
perils,  tortuous  in  his  paths ;  born  in  Europe,  disguising  and  yet 
betraying  a  supercilious  prejudice  of  European  superiority  of 
intellect,  and  holding  principles  pliable  to  circumstances,  occa- 
sionally mistaking  the  left  for  the  right-handed  wisdom." 

The  character  thus  drawn  by  Mr.  Adams  is  very  interesting 
as  a  study  of  something  more  than  Mr.  Gallatin  only  Mr. 
Gallatin  certainly  was  a  man  of  first-rate  talents  and  was  no 
doubt  conscious  of  them ;  he  would  have  been  more  than  human 
had  he  not  felt  the  injustice  of  that  prejudice  which  had  shut  the 
door  of  the  Presidency  in  his  face  because  he  was  born  in  another 
republic;  he  certainly  had  the  faculty  of  keeping  his  opinions, 
whatever  they  were,  to  himself,  which  is  always  an  assumption 
of  superiority ;  he  was  moreover  an  extremely  adroit  politician, 
full  of  resource,  conciliatory  and  pliable  in  a  remarkable  degree; 
possibly,  too,  he  may  have  at  times  mistaken  his  path.  Timid 
he  was  not,  but  his  courage  was  of  a  kind  so  perfectly  self-assured 


1821.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  577 

that  it  often  disregarded  imputations  of  timidity  which  would 
have  been  intolerable  to  more  sensitive  men.  Mr.  Adams  himself 
long  afterwards  and  in  the  most  public  manner  paid  a  tribute  to 
his  absolute  honesty  such  as  he  would  have  been  willing  to  pay 
hardly  any  other  very  prominent  man  of  the  time,  unless  it  were 
Madison  and  Monroe.  The  character  may,  therefore,  be  admitted 
as  at  least  half  true,  and  as  throwing  much  light  on  its  subject; 
but  it  was  very  amusing  as  coming  from  the  sources  that  pro- 
duced it.  Ambition  is  not,  within  reasonable  limits,  a  deadly 
sin,  but  if  it  were,  there  was  not  a  leading  man  of  that  time, 
from  Thomas  Jefferson  to  De  Witt  Clinton,  whose  chance  of 
salvation  was  better  than  Mr.  Gallatin's.  Vanity  is  a  pardon- 
able weakness,  but  the  virtue  of  extreme  modesty  was  not  among 
those  merits  which  most  characterized  the  American  statesmen 
of  President  Monroe's  day.  Pliability  in  politics,  if  accom- 
panied by  honesty,  is  a  virtue ;  business  can  be  conducted  in  no 
other  way ;  but  in  all  Mr.  Gallatin's  long  career  there  was  and 
was  to  be  no  parallel  to  the  political  pliability  to  be  found  among 
the  Cabinet  officers  of  President  Monroe.  Human  nature  is  only 
relatively  perfect ;  absolute  perfection  is  a  higher  standard  than 
statesmen  are  required  to  attain;  but  even  as  regards  relative 
perfection,  there  is  a  curious  suggestiveness  in  finding  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  singled  out  for  pride  of  opinion,  vanity,  timidity,  and  tortu- 
ousness,  pliability,  superciliousness,  and  mistakes  of  judgment, 
among  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr. 
Clay. 

This,  however,  was  merely  one  of  those  diplomatic  quarrels 
which,  like  those  at  Ghent,  have  no  real  significance.  Mr.  Galla- 
tin  was  probably  right  in  the  opinion  which  vexed  his  chief.  At 
all  events,  the  French  negotiation  went  on  undisturbed,  and  even 
after  its  transfer  to  Washington,  which  a  very  sensitive  man 
would  have  felt  as  a  slight,  Mr.  Gallatin  continued  his  active 
assistance  to  Mr.  Adams  and  pressed  upon  the  French  govern- 
ment with  all  his  weight.  Ultimately  an  agreement  was  effected 
and  a  treaty  signed  at  Washington  which,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  seems 
to  have  thought,  conceded  somewhat  more  than  was  necessary, 
but  which  at  least  put  an  end  to  the  commercial  war. 

The  conclusion  of  this  treaty  had  been  the  principal  object  of 

37 


578  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1822. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  continuance  at  Paris,  but  this  affair,  the  anxious 
condition  of  our  relations  with  Spain,  and  his  own  increasing 
sense  of  satisfaction  in  diplomatic  life,  made  him  contented  and 
even  happy  to  remain  over  the  year  1822.  Mr.  Crawford,  whose 
candidacy  for  the  succession  to  Mr.  Monroe  was  then  likely  to 
prove  successful,  took  pains  to  maintain  close  relations  with  Mr. 
Gallatin,  and  was  especially  anxious  for  his  early  return  in  order 
that  his  influence  might  be  felt  in  the  important  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania. This  duty  seems,  however,  to  have  little  suited  Mr. 
Gallatin's  taste.  He  remained  of  his  own  accord  in  Paris,  his 
opinion  agreeing  with  that  of  the  President  that  his  presence 
there  wras  desirable.  At  the  same  time  he  declined  the  office  of 
president  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  While  thus  hold- 
ing himself  aloof  from  public  interests  in  America,  he  took  a 
resolution  which  seems  to  show  how  little  he  understood  the 
change  that  time  and  experience  had  worked  in  his  circum- 
stances. He  sent  his  younger  son  to  New  Geneva  with  directions 
to  build  a  stone  house  in  extension  of  the  brick  building  he  had 
constructed  thirty  years  before ;  here  he  proposed  to  return  with 
his  family  and  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

One  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  favorite  sayings  was  that  the  wisest 
of  our  race  often  reserve  the  average  stock  of  folly  to  be  all  ex- 
pended upon  some  one  flagrant  absurdity.  He  might  have  added 
that  when  a  shrewd  and  cautious  man  once  commits  such  a  folly 
there  is  more  than  a  fair  probability  of  his  repeating  it.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  who  should  have  had  some  sympathy  with  this  trait,  may 
have  been  right  in  seeking  for  the  source  of  unusual  acts  in 
"pride  of  opinion;"  or  a  wider  philosophy  might  trace  such 
eccentricities  to  the  peculiar  structure  of  individual  minds  and  to 
ineradicable  habits  of  thought.  Mr.  Gallatin  had  in  the  pride 
of  youth  and  the  full  fervor  of  fresh  enthusiasm  committed  the 
folly  of  burying  himself  in  the  wilderness,  and  now,  when  more 
than  sixty  years  old,  after  an  active  life  of  constant  excitement, 
with  a  family  of  children  almost  entirely  educated  in  Paris,  and 
a  wife  who  even  thirty  years  before  had  found  the  western  country 
intolerable,  he  proposed  to  return  there  and  end  his  life.  Had 
the  great  wave  of  western  improvement  swept  New  Geneva  before 
it  in  its  course,  there  might  have  been  an  excuse  for  Mr.  Galla- 


1822.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  579 

tin's  determination ;  but  New  Geneva  remained  what  he  had  left 
it,  a  beautiful  and  peaceful  mountain  valley,  where  no  human 
being  could  find  other  employment  than  that  of  cultivating  the 
soil  with  his  own  hands.  There  Mr.  Gallatin  decided  to  go,  on 
the  extraordinary  plea  that  he  could  afford  to  live  nowhere  else, 
and  the  loss  of  a  part  of  his  private  income  in  1823  only  fixed 
him  more  firmly  in  his  determination. 

Had  he  wished  to  return  to  Congress  or  to  political  life,  there 
might  have  been  reason  in  his  course;  but  the  only  political 
position  lie  cared  to  hold  was  that  of  minister  in  Paris,  and  this 
he  relinquished  in  order  to  live  on  the  banks  of  the  Mononga- 
hela.  The  following  letters  will  show  what  his  friends  wished 
and  expected  him  to  do,  and  what  he  did.  His  own  letters  from 
Paris,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr.  Astor,  are  lost  or  de- 
stroyed ;  but  it  is  clear  that  he  paid  very  little  attention  to  their 
suggestions.  His  own  preference  would  have  been  to  take  only 
a  leave  of  absence  in  1823,  to  arrange  his  affairs  and  settle  his 
sons  in  business ;  then  to  return  himself  to  Paris. 


CRAWFORD   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  13th  May,  1822. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — It  is  now  nearly  two  years  since  I  have  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  you.  Your  last  was  dated  about  the  30th 
August,  1820. 

The  negotiation  between  France  and  the  United  States  which 
has  been  carried  on  here  for  two  years  past,  concerning  our  com- 
mercial relations,  is  likely  to  terminate  successfully.  I  know  of 
nothing  which  will  probably  prevent  it,  unless  our  determination 
to  support  every  officer  of  the  government  in  violating  the 
orders,  laws,  and  Constitution  of  the  government  and  nation 
should  oppose  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  it.  Captain  Stock- 
ton, of  the  Alligator,  has  seized  a  number  of  French  vessels 
under  the  French  flag,  with  French  papers  and  French  officers, 
and  crews  at  least  not  composed  of  American  citizens ;  yet  we 
have  tendered  no  satisfaction  to  the  French  government  for  this 
outrage  upon  their  flag  and  upon  the  principles  which  we  stoutly 
defend  against  England.  A  disposition  to  discuss  has  always 


580  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1822. 

characterized  our  government,  but  until  recently  an  appearance 
of  moderation  has  marked  our  discussions.  Now  our  disposition 
to  discuss  seems  to  have  augmented,  and  the  spirit  of  conciliation 
has  manifestly  been  abandoned  by  our  councils.  We  are  deter- 
mined to  say  harsher  things  than  are  said  to  us,  and  to  have  the 
last  word.  Where  this  temper  will  lead  us  cannot  be  distinctly 
foreseen.  We  are  now  upon  bad  terms  with  the  principal  mari- 
time states,  and  perhaps  on  the  brink  of  a  rupture  with  Russia 
on  account  of  the  prohibition  to  trade  with  the  north-west  coast 
beyond  the  51st  degree  of  north  latitude  and  to  approach  within 
100  Italian  miles  of  the  islands  on  the  Asiatic  side.  I  have 
labored  to  restrain  this  predominant  disposition  of  the  govern- 
ment, but  have  succeeded  only  partially  in  softening  the  asperities 
which  invariably  predominate  in  the  official  notes  of  the  State 
Department.  If  these  notes  had  been  permitted  to  remain  as 
originally  drafted,  we  should,  I  believe,  have  before  this  time 
been  unembarrassed  by  diplomatic  relations  with  more  than  one 
power.  The  tendency  to  estrange  us  from  all  foreign  powers, 
which  the  style  of  the  notes  of  the  State  Department  has  uni- 
formly had,  has  been  so  often  demonstrated,  yet  so  often  per- 
mitted, that  I  have  almost  given  up  the  idea  of  maintaining 
friendly  relations  with  those  powers ;  but  of  late  another  em- 
barrassment no  less  perplexing  in  its  tendency  has  arisen.  Our 
Mars1  has  intuitive  perceptions  not  only  upon  military  organ- 
ization, but  upon  fortifications  and  other  military  subjects.  These 
intuitions  of  his  have  involved  the  President  in  contests  with 
both  Houses  of  Congress.  He  has  contrived  to  make  them 
those  of  the  President  instead  of  his  own.  A  state  of  irritation 
prevails  which  greatly  exceeds  anything  which  has  occurred  in 
the  history  of  this  government.  The  Secretary  of  War  is  now, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  public,  lord  of  the  ascendant.  Certain 
it  is  that  every  appointment  in  Florida  was  made  without  my 
knowledge,  and  even  the  appointments  connected  with  my  own 
Department  have  been  made  without  regard  to  my  wishes,  or 
rather  without  ascertaining  what  they  were. 

It  is  understood  that  an  impression  has  been  made  on  the  mind 

1  Mr.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  "War. 


1822.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  581 

of  the  President  that  the  rejection  of  the  military  nominations 
by  the  Senate  has  been  effected  by  my  influence. 

I  have  known  this  for  nearly  two  months,  but  have  taken  no 
step  to  counteract  it,  and  shall  take  none,  because  I  think  it  will 
not  be  injurious  to  me  to  remain  in  this  state  or  even  to  be 
removed  from  office. 

The  latter,  however,  is  an  honor  which  I  shall  not  solicit,  al- 
though I  do  not  believe  it  would  be  injurious  to  me  in  a  political 
point  of  view. 

You  will  perceive  by  the  newspapers  that  much  agitation  has 
already  prevailed  as  to  the  election  of  the  next  President.  The 
war  candidate,  as  Mr.  Randolph  calls  him,  is  understood  to  be 
extremely  active  in  his  operations,  and,  as  it  has  been  said  by 
religious  zealots,  appears  to  be  determined  to  take  the  citadel 
by  storm. 

An  impression  prevails  that  Mr.  Adams's  friends,  in  despair 
of  his  success,  have  thrown  themselves  into  the  scale  of  his  more 
youthful  friend,  lately  converted  into  a  competitor.  You  will 
have  seen  that  Mr.  Lowndes  has  been  nominated  by  the  South 
Carolina  Legislature,  or  rather  by  a  portion  of  it.  This  event, 
as  well  as  the  present  course  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  it  is  believed 
may  be  traced  to  the  election  of  Governor  Clark,  of  Georgia. 
This  gentleman  is  personally  my  enemy.  He  was  elected  in 
1819  in  opposition  to  Colonel  Troup  by  a  majority  of  13  votes. 
In  1821  he  was  opposed  by  the  same  gentleman.  Mr.  Calhoun, 
Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Lowndes  had  conceived  the  idea  that,  if 
he  should  be  re-elected,  the  electoral  vote  of  Georgia  would  be 
against  me.  He  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  2  votes.  Cal- 
houn and  Lowndes  had  through  the  year  favored  Mr.  Adams's 
pretensions ;  they  found,  however,  that  it  was  an  up-hill  work. 
Considering  me  hors  du  combat,  and  finding  Mr.  A.  unacceptable 
to  the  South,  each  of  them  supposed  that  the  Southern  interest 
would  become  the  property  of  the  first  adventurer.  Mr.  C.  had 
made  a  tour  of  observation  in  Pennsylvania,  whilst  Mr.  L.  kept 
watch  at  home.  When  the  result  of  the  Georgia  election  was 
known,  Mr.  C.  threw  himself  upon  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  L., 
who  had  remained  in  South  Carolina  until  after  the  meeting  of  its 
Legislature,  was  nominated  by  a  portion  of  it  to  the  Presidency. 


582  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALL  AT  IN.  1822 

A  conference  took  place  between  them,  but  no  adjustment  was 
effected,  as  each  determined  to  hold  the  vantage-ground  which 
he  was  supposed  to  have  gained.  The  delusion  as  to  Georgia 
has  passed  away,  but  Mr.  C.  cannot  now  recede,  and  entertains 
confident  hopes  of  success.  Pennsylvania  he  calculates  upon,  as 
well  as  upon  many  other  States.  Mr.  Clay  is  held  up  by  his 
friends,  but  has  not  taken  any  decided  measure.  I  consider 
everything  that  has  passed  as  deciding  nothing.  Everything  will 
depend  on  the  election  of  Congress,  which  takes  place  this  year 
in  all  the  States  except  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee. 
My  own  impression  is  that  Mr.  C.  will  be  the  Federal  candidate 
if  his  name  is  kept  up.  If  he  should  be  put  down,  and  I  think 
he  will  be,  especially  if  Pennsylvania  should  declare  against  him, 
Mr.  Adams  will  be  the  Federal  candidate.  Mr.  Clay  will  be 
up  if  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  or  New  York  will  declare  for  him. 
At  present  there  is  not  much  prospect  of  either. 

The  stockholders  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  are  be- 
coming restive  under  the  low  dividends  which  they  receive.  A 
decided  opposition  to  Mr.  Cheves  will  be  made  the  next  year. 
I  understand  that  many  of  the  stockholders  are  for  placing  you 
at  the  head  of  that  institution.  I  know  not  wThether  you  wish 
such  an  appointment.  The  election  of  governor  comes  on  next 
year.  Many  persons  are  spoken  of  for  that  office.  Bryan, 
Ingham,  Lowrie,  and  Lacock  are  among  the  number,  and  some 
intimations  have  reached  me  that,  if  you  were  here,  you  might 
be  selected.  Ingham  is  connected  with  Mr.  Calhoun.  The 
others  are  unfavorable  to  his  views. 

Present  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Gallatin  and  every  member  of 
your  family. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  your  sincere  friend. 

CRAWFORD    TO    GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  26th  June,  1822. 

MY  BEAR  SIR, — On  the  24th  inst.  a  commercial  convention 
was  signed  by  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  De  Neuville.  It  is  published 
in  the  Intelligencer  of  this  day.  If  it  is  permitted  to  operate  a 
few  years,  all  discriminating  duties  will  cease.  I  am,  however, 


1822.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  583 

apprehensive  that  it  will  not  be  permitted  to  produce  this 
effect.  .  .  . 

In  my  last  letter  I  suggested  the  probability  that  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  might  be  offered  to  you 
if  you  were  in  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  next  election. 
Mr.  Cheves  has  informed  me  confidentially  that  he  will  resign 
his  office  about  the  latter  end  of  this  year.  He  will  declare  this 
intention  when  the  next  dividend  shall  be  declared. 

As  the  commercial  convention  with  France  has  been  agreed 
upon,  and  as  I  understand  that  all  the  indemnity  which  will 
probably  ever  be  obtained  will  have  been  obtained  before  you 
receive  this  letter,  all  inducement  to  a  longer  residence  in  France 
is  at  an  end.  Independent  of  the  office  to  which  I  have  referred, 
that  of  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  will  be  disposed  of  next  year. 
If  you  intend  to  engage  in  any  way  whatever  in  the  concerns 
of  this  country  after  your  return,  I  think  you  ought  to  be  here 
during  the  next  autumn.  I  believe  there  is  no  disposition  in 
any  party  to  re-elect  Heister.  The  schismatics,  who,  with  Binns, 
opposed  Finley  at  the  last  election,  are  desirous  of  uniting  with 
their  former  friends  in  the  next  election.  It  is  understood  that 
they  are  desirous  of  bringing  you  forward,  and  I  presume  the 
great  body  of  the  party  will  meet  them  upon  this  subject.  Ing- 
ham  will  be  supported  in  caucus  by  those  devoted  to  F.,  but 
that,  I  believe,  is  only  a  small  part  of  those  who  supported  him  in 
his  last  effort.  Bryan,  the  late  auditor,  Lowrie,  and  Lacock  are 
spoken  of,  but  no  commitment  has  taken  place  except  by  Ingham 
and  his  friends,  who,  it  is  understood,  wish  to  connect  that  ques- 
tion with  the  election  of  Mr.  Calhoun  as  President.  The  other 
gentlemen  are  understood  to  be  decidedly  opposed  to  the  preten- 
sions of  the  latter  gentleman. 

Mr.  De  Neuville  will  be  able  to  give  you  many  details  upon 
our  local  politics,  with  which  he  is  pretty  well  acquainted. 

The  collision  between  the  President  and  Senate  upon  certain 
military  nominations  has  very  much  soured  his  mind  and  given 
a  direction  to  his  actions  which  I  conceive  to  be  unfortunate  for 
the  nation  as  well  as  for  himself.  I  hope,  however,  that  a  better 
state  of  feeling  will,  after  the  first  irritation  has  passed  off,  be 
restored  and  cherished  on  both  sides.  The  public  seems  to  have 


584  LIFE     OP    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1822. 

taken  less  interest  in  this  affair  than  I  had  expected.  Two  or 
three  criticisms  have  appeared  in  the  Intelligencer  upon  the  con- 
duct of  the  Senate,  but  they  have  attracted  but  little  attention  in 
any  part  of  the  Union. 

The  controversy  which  is  going  on  between  Mr.  Adams  and 
Mr.  Russell,  in  which  you  are  made  a  party,  has  attracted  con- 
siderable notice,  and  will  probably  continue  to  command  atten- 
tion. You  will  readily  perceive  that  the  object  of  the  party  was 
less  to  injure  Mr.  Adams  than  to  benefit  another  by  placing  him 
in  a  conspicuous  point  of  view,  and  especially  by  showing  that 
Western  interests  could  not  be  safely  trusted  to  persons  residing 
in  the  Atlantic  States.  .  .  . 

J.  J.  ASTOR  TO   GALLATIN. 

NEW  YORK,  18th  October,  1822. 

.  .  .  Your  leaving  Paris  will  be  a  great  loss  to  me,  if  I  go,  as 
I  expect  to.  I  really  think  you  will  not  like  it  so  much  in  this 
country  as  you  did,  and  I  believe  you  had  better  remain  where 
you  are.  For  the  interest  of  the  United  States  Bank  I  am  sorry 
that  you  will  not  take  it.  For  your  own  sake  I  am  glad.  It 
is,  as  you  say,  a  troublesome  situation,  and  I  doubt  if  much  credit 
is  to  be  got  by  it.  I  have  been  to-day  spoken  to  about  your 
taking  the  situation,  but  I  stated  that  you  decline  it,  and  I  think 
you  are  right.  Matters  here  go  on  irregular  enough.  It's  all 
the  while  up  and  down.  So  soon  as  people  have  a  little  money 
they  run  into  extravagancy,  get  in  debt,  and  down  it  goes.  Ex- 
change is  again  12  J  to  13,  and  people  will  again  ship  specie, 
the  banks  again  curtail  discounts,  bankruptcy  ensues,  exchange 
will  fall  for  a  short  time,  and  then  we  have  the  same  scene  over 
again.  You  know  so  well  this  country  and  character  of  the 
people  that  I  need  say  no  more.  We  have  plenty  candidates  for 
President ;  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  Crawford  are  the  most 
prominent.  Mr.  Crawford,  I  think,  will  get  it.  ... 

GALLATIN  TO   MONROE. 

PARIS,  13th  November,  1822. 

With  respect  to  my  longer  stay  here  I  entertain  a  just  sense 
of  your  partiality  and  kind  feelings  towards  me;  and  I  may 


1823.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  585 

add  that,  so  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  the  station  is  not 
only  highly  honorable,  but  more  agreeable  than  any  other  public 
employment  which  [I]  might  fill.  But  considerations  connected 
with  my  children  and  with  my  private  affairs  imperiously  require 
my  presence  in  America,  at  least  for  some  months.  Under  those 
circumstances  I  will,  with  your  permission,  return  next  spring, 
but  take  leave  here  as  only  going  with  leave  of  absence.  I 
would  probably  be  ready  to  return  here  in  the  autumn,  and  take 
care  that  the  public  interest  should  not  in  the  mean  while  suffer. 
Mr.  Sheldon  is  indeed  fully  equal  to  the  task  of  managing  all 
the  current  affairs  of  the  mission ;  and  France  has  given  us  the 
example  of  leaving  a  charge"  for  a  short  time.  But  this  must 
not  by  any  means  prevent  you  from  filling  the  place  at  once  on 
my  return,  if  you  think  it  proper.  I  will  only  thank  you  to  let 
me  know  your  intention  in  that  respect  as  soon  as  possible  after 
the  receipt  of  this  letter. 


GALLATIN  TO  J.  Q.  ADAMS. 

PARIS,  28th  February,  1823. 

DEAR  SIB, — There  not  being  at  this  time  the  least  prospect 
of  a  settlement  of  our  claims,  I  do  not  perceive  any  reason  con- 
nected with  the  public  service  for  protracting  my  stay  in  this 
country.  I  will  terminate,  as  far  as  this  government  will  allow, 
what  relates  to  the  fisheries,  although  I  would  have  wished  to 
hear  from  you  on  the  subject;  and  some  heavy  losses  I  have 
experienced  at  home,  as  well  as  certain  family  circumstances, 
imperiously  requiring  my  presence  there,  it  is  my  intention,  if 
nothing  new  and  important  of  a  public  nature  shall  take  place, 
to  take  my  departure  in  the  course  of  the  spring.  I  had  already 
written  a  private  letter  on  that  subject  to  the  President,  to  which 
I  had  hoped  to  have  received  an  answer  before  this  time,  and  in 
which  I  had  asked  only  for  leave  of  absence.  But,  this  being  an 
unusual  course,  it  may  be  better  at  once  to  appoint  a  successor, 
and  I  wish  it  to  be  done.  If  the  President  shall  think  it  more 
eligible  to  wait  for  the  meeting  of  the  Senate,  you  know  that 
Mr.  Sheldon  is  fully  competent  to  carry  on  the  current  business ; 
and  I  believe  him  equally  so  to  act  on  any  incident  that  may 


586  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIN.  182-5. 

arise.  As  to  the  still  uncertain  war  with  Spain,  nothing  can 
possibly  be  necessary  here  on  our  part  than  perhaps  some  remon- 
strance in  case  of  infractions  of  our  neutral  rights.  There  is  no 
disposition  on  the  part  of  France  to  commit  acts  of  that  kind, 
and  that  subject  is  also  quite  familiar  to  Mr.  Sheldon. 


GALLATIN   TO  J.  Q.  ADAMS. 

PARIS,  18th  April,  1823. 

Sin, — I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  despatch  No.  55,  and 
intend  to  avail  myself  of  the  leave  of  absence  granted  by  the 
President,  and  to  take  my  departure  in  about  a  month,  leaving 
Mr.  Sheldon  as  charge"  d'affaires. 

I  beg  you  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  President,  but  to  repeat 
that  it  is  not  my  wish  that  another  appointment  should  be  delayed 
on  my  account,  if  deemed  useful. 

Mr.  Gallatin  accordingly  left  Paris  with  his  family  about  the 
middle  of  May,  1823,  and  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  24th 
June.  The  following  letter,  the  last  which  Mr.  Crawford  wrote 
him,  was  not  received  by  Mr.  Gallatin  in  Europe.  Whether 
the  intensity  of  that  struggle  for  the  Presidency  in  which  Mr. 
Crawford  was  now  engaged  had  embittered  his  mind,  or  whether 
the  paralysis  which  struck  him  down  only  a  short  time  after- 
wards was  casting  its  shadow  before  it,  this  letter  shows  a 
peculiar  irritation  which  seems  almost  ready  to  make  Mr. 
Gallatin  himself  its  victim. 

CRAWFORD   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  26th  May,  1823. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— Your  letter  of  the  27th  of  September  last 
was  received  some  time  in  December  thereafter,  and  is  the  last 
letter  I  have  had  from  you. 

Some  time  in  December  I  understood  you  had  applied  for 
leave  of  absence,  and  shortly  after  was  informed  that  it  had 
been  granted. 

In  the  latter  end  of  April  the  President  showed  me  a  private 


1823.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  587 

letter  from  you  dated  in  the  early  part  of  March,  in  which  you 
declare  your  determination  to  leave  France  the  10th  of  this 
month,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  I  was  informed  that  Mr. 
Adams  had  requested  you  to  remain.  I  understand  that  this 
request  had  been  made  in  consequence  of  the  expected  rupture 
between  France  and  Spain.  It  would  therefore  appear  that  the 
reasons  you  assigned  for  believing  your  presence  at  Paris  would 
be  useless  have  not  been  considered  good  by  the  Secretary  of 
State.  To  me  they  appeared  conclusive  when  I  read  the  letter, 
and  reflection  has  only  confirmed  my  first  impressions.  It  is  not 
pretended  that  the  war  with  Spain  will  favor  the  efforts  which 
have  for  twelve  years  past  been  made  without  success  to  procure 
indemnity  for  unjust  spoliations  committed  upon  our  merchants. 
Infractions  of  our  neutral  rights  must  then  be  apprehended  before 
a  successor  could  be  sent.  The  interest  of  France  to  strip  Great 
Britain  of  an  excuse  to  interfere  in  the  war  is  the  best  guaranty 
that  can  be  offered  for  her  scrupulous  respect  for  neutral  rights. 
All  that  an  American  minister  can  do  during  the  present  year 
at  Paris  will  be  to  give  information  of  what  is  going  on  and 
speculate  upon  what  may  possibly  be  done  in  the  progress  of  the 
war.  If  the  Secretary  was  at  Paris,  or  if  his  protege",  Mr.  [Alex- 
ander] Everett,  was  there,  the  curiosity  of  the  government  to 
grasp  at  future  events  would  have  ample  gratification.  I  do 
not  know  Mr.  Sheldon  well  enough  to  form  an  opinion  of  his 
capacity  to  minister  to  this  propensity  of  man,  but  I  presume  he 
would  supply  it  with  as  much,  if  not  as  delicate,  food  as  it  would 
receive  from  you. 

Some  of  the  little  people  who  buzz  about  the  government 
have,  I  understand,  been  very  busy  in  the  expression  of  their 
opinions  that  the  change  of  relations  between  France  and  Spain 
renders  highly  important  that  you  should  remain.  The  people 
have  had  their  cue,  and  repeat  their  lesson  by  rote,  for  if  they 
were  capable  of  reasoning  themselves  they  would  see  the  folly  of 
their  declarations.  It  is  impossible  that  reflecting  men  whose 
judgments  are  not  led  astray  by  some  strong  impression  resulting 
from  selfish  purposes,  can  believe  that  it  is  of  any  importance  to 
have  a  minister  at  Paris  at  this  moment. 

The  reason  then  assigned  for  this  request  is  not  the  true  one. 


588  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1823. 

That  must  be  sought  not  in  Paris  but  in  the  United  States.  You 
will  understand  it  as  well  as  I  do  upon  a  moment's  reflection. 
Your  presence  in  the  United  States  during  the  present  year  may 
not  suit  the  views  and  projects  of  certain  gentlemen ;  it  is,  there- 
fore, necessary  to  devise  some  cause  for  keeping  you  at  Paris.  It 
is  possible  that  if  Mr.  Rush  was  disposed  to  return,  some  cause 
connected  with  the  rupture  between  France  and  Spain  would  be 
discovered  to  render  his  stay  in  London  necessary.  As  that  gen- 
tleman, however,  has  written  a  number  of  letters  to  his  friends 
in  Pennsylvania  which  may  have  an  effect  somewhat  similar  to 
that  which  was  apprehended  from  your  return,  it  is  possible  that 
it  may  facilitate  his  return. 

I  have  written  this  letter  under  an  impression  that  the  request 
of  Mr.  Adams  may  arrive  at  Paris  before  you  leave  it.  Your 
friends  are  desirous  of  your  return,  and  will  be  disappointed  if 
you  do  not.  I  have  understood  that  Mr.  Astor  has  received  a 
letter  from  you  as  late  as  the  17th  ult.  which  is  indicative  of 
your  intention  to  return,  but  Mr.  Astor  thinks  that  you  will  not, 
and  that  you  ought  not.  He  is  probably  governed  in  this  opinion 
by  his  interests  and  wishes.  If  you  do  not  return  in  the  Montano, 
which  it  is  now  said  will  not  sail  before  the  20th  of  this  month, 
he  will  see  you  before  this  letter  reaches  you,  as  I  shall  confide 
it  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Erving,  who,  it  is  understood,  will  not  sail 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Montano. 

Your  friends  Lacock  and  Roberts  are  very  decided  on  the 
question  which  now  attracts  the  attention  of  the  nation.  Indeed, 
there  are  but  few  exceptions  among  your  old  political  associates. 
Many  of  them,  unfortunately,  are  no  more,  and  new  men  have 
filled  their  places;  the  new-comers,  however,  have  a  high  respect 
for  your  character,  talents,  and  opinions,  and  wish  to  see  and 
converse  with  you  upon  this  question.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Crawford  had  his  wish.  Gallatin  returned,  and  was 
drawn  reluctantly  but  inevitably  into  the  Presidential  contest. 
No  true  friend  of  his  could  have  desired  it,  for  he  had  nothing 
to  gain  by  returning  into  public  life  at  a  moment  when  there 
was  not  a  single  element  of  principle  or  dignity  involved  in  the 
election.  Never  in  the  whole  course  of  our  history  has  any 


1823.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  589 

Presidential  election  turned  so  exclusively  on  purely  personal 
considerations;  never  has  there  been  one  in  which  all  parties 
were  so  helpless.  Old  association,  the  prestige  of  high  reputa- 
tion, and  the  long  control  of  Treasury  patronage  combined  to 
make  Mr.  Crawford  the  first  candidate ;  he  had  been  the  selected 
favorite  of  the  old  triumvirate  for  many  years,  and  by  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son and  Mr.  Madison  he  was  regarded  as  the  best  representative 
of  the  Republican  party.  The  same  view  was  held  by  Mr.  Gal- 
latin,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Crawford  needed  Mr.  Gallatin's 
active  support ;  thus  it  was  that  Mr.  Gallatin  became  in  a  man- 
ner compelled  to  allow  his  supposed  influence  to  be  used  for  the 
election  of  Mr.  Crawford  as  President,  and  was  buffeted  about 
upon  the  waves  of  this  stormy  and  unclean  ocean  until  at  length 
he  was  glad  to  find  even  a  mortifying  means  of  escape. 

His  first  step  was  to  visit  Washington,  and  thence  he  went 
to  inspect  his  new  house  at  Friendship  Hill. 


GALLATIN   TO   HIS   DAUGHTER. 


GENEVA,  17th  September,  1823. 
.  .  .  Notwithstanding  all  my  exertions,  you  will  find  it  hard 
enough  when  you  come  next  spring  to  accommodate  yourself  to 
the  privations  and  wildness  of  the  country.  Our  house  has  been 
built  by  a  new  Irish  carpenter,  who  was  always  head  over  heels 
and  added  much  to  the  disorder  inseparable  from  building. 
Being  unacquainted  with  the  Grecian  architecture,  he  adopted 
an  Hyberno-teutonic  style,  so  that  the  outside  of  the  house,  with 
its  port-hole-looking  windows,  has  the  appearance  of  Irish  bar- 
racks, whilst  the  inside  ornaments  are  similar  to  those  of  a  Dutch 
tavern,  and  I  must  acknowledge  that  these  form  a  singular  con- 
trast with  the  French  marble  chimney-pieces,  paper,  and  mirrors. 
On  one  side  of  that  mass  of  stones  which  Lucien  calls  "  le  cMteau," 
and  in  full  view  as  you  approach  it,  is  a  wing  consisting  of  the 
gable-end  of  a  log  house,  with  its  chimney  in  front,  and  I  could 
not  pull  it  down,  as  it  is  the  kitchen  and  dining-room  where  are 
daily  fed  two  masons  and  plasterers,  two  attendants,  two  stone- 
quarriers,  two  painters,  a  carpenter  (besides  three  who  board 
themselves),  Lucien,  Albert's  black  Peter,  and  Mr,  Made, 


590  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1823. 

Mesdlles  et  les  petits  Buffle.  The  grounds  are  overgrown  with 
elders,  iron-weeds,  stinking  weeds,  laurel,  several  varieties  of 
briers,  impenetrable  thickets  of  brush,  vines,  and  underwood, 
amongst  which  are  discovered  vestiges  of  old  asparagus  and  new 
artichoke-beds,  and  now  and  then  a  spontaneous  apple  or  peach 
tree.  As  to  Albert,  he  has  four  guns,  a  pointer,  three  boats,  two 
riding-horses,  and  a  pet  colt,  smaller  than  a  jackass,  who  feeds  on 
the  fragments  of  my  old  lilacs  and  altheafrutex.  His  own  clothes 
adorn  our  parlor  and  only  sitting-room  in  the  old  brick  house ; 
for  the  frame  house  is  partly  occupied  by  the  Buffle  family  and 
partly  encumbered  by  various  boxes  and  Albert's  billiard-table, 
the  pockets  of  which  are  made  with  his  stockings.  .  .  . 

NEW  GENEVA,  15th  October,  1823. 

.  .  .  Notwithstanding  all  my  endeavors,  more  will  remain 
to  be  done  after  our  arrival  next  spring  than  I  would  have 
wished.  It  was  impossible  for  me  to  attend  to  anything  else  for 
the  improvement  either  of  mills,  farm,  plantation,  &c.,  all  of 
which  are  in  a  most  deplorable  state.  .  .  .  Amidst  those  cares  I 
have  been  disturbed  by  political  struggles  in  which  I  felt  but 
little  interested ;  but  the  Federalists,  by  their  repeated  assertions 
in  all  the  papers  of  the  State  that  I  supported  their  candidate, 
have  compelled  me,  much  against  my  inclination,  to  come  out 
with  a  public  declaration  intended  to  show  that  notwithstanding 
the  occasional  aberrations  of  democracy  and  the  abuse  some- 
times poured  on  me  from  that  quarter,  it  was  impossible  that 
I  should  abandon  a  cause  to  the  support  of  which  my  life  has 
been  devoted,  and  which  I  think  inseparably  connected  with 
that  of  the  liberty  and  amelioration  of  mankind  in  every  quarter 
of  the  globe.  .  .  . 

Private  reasons  led  Mr.  Gallatin  to  pass  the  winter  in  Bal- 
timore. Here  he  again  met  his  old  enemies  the  Smiths,  and 
resumed  relations  with  them,  not,  perhaps,  so  cordial  as  in  early 
days,  but  at  least  externally  friendly.  The  main  interest  of  the 
winter,  however,  turned  on  the  Presidential  election.  Mr.  Craw- 
ford had  been  dangerously  affected  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  and 
his  friends  found  themselves  obliged  to  put  by  his  side  a  camli- 


1823.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  591 

date  for  the  Vice-Presidency  who  would  disarm  opposition  and 
command  confidence  in  case  of  his  chief's  death ;  they  fixed  upon 
Mr.  Gallatin,  who  thus  became,  in  the  failure  of  Mr.  Crawford, 
their  leader.  From  the  time  this  point  was  decided,  Gallatin  had 
no  choice  but  to  obey  the  wishes  of  his  party  in  other  respects; 
and,  as  it  happened  that  all  Mr.  Crawford's  chances  turned  upon 
the  weight  of  a  nomination  by  a  Congressional  caucus,  Gallatin 
was  called  upon  to  take  a  direct  share  in  urging  his  friends  to 
the  work.  Thus  he  was  in  a  manner  forced  to  write  a  letter 
urging  his  old  friend  Macon  to  give  his  support  to  the  caucus ; 
he  was  also  obliged  to  make  a  short  stay  in  Washington. 


JEFFERSON   TO   GALLATIN. 

MONTICELLO,  October  29,  1823. 

DEAR  SIR, —  .  .  .  You  have  seen  in  our  papers  how  prema- 
turely they  are  agitating  the  question  of  the  next  President. 
This  proceeds  from  some  uneasiness  at  the  present  state  of  things. 
There  is  considerable  dissatisfaction  with  the  increase  of  the 
public  expenses,  and  especially  with  the  necessity  of  borrowing 
money  in  time  of  peace.  This  was  much  arraigned  at  the  last 
session  of  Congress,  and  will  be  more  so  at  the  next.  The  mis- 
fortune is  that  the  persons  looked  to  as  successors  in  the  govern- 
ment are  of  the  President's  Cabinet,  and  their  partisans  in 
Congress  are  making  a  handle  of  these  things  to  help  or  hurt 
those  for  or  against  whom  they  are.  The  candidates,  ins  and 
outs,  seem  at  present  to  be  many,  but  they  will  be  reduced  to 
two,  a  Northern  and  Southern  one,  as  usual.  To  judge  of  the 
event,  the  state  of  parties  must  be  understood.  You  are  told, 
indeed,  that  there  are  no  longer  parties  among  us ;  that  they  are 
all  now  amalgamated ;  the  lion  and  the  lamb  lie  down  together 
in  peace.  Do  not  believe  a  word  of  it.  The  same  parties  exist 
now  as  ever  did ;  no  longer,  indeed,  under  the  name  of  Repub- 
licans and  Federalists ;  the  latter  name  was  extinguished  in  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans ;  those  who  wore  it,  finding  monarchism 
a  desperate  wish  in  this  country,  are  rallying  to  what  they  deem 
the  next  best  point,  a  consolidated  government.  Although  this  is 
not  yet  avowed  (as  that  of  monarchism,  you  know,  never  was), 


592  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT    GAL  LATIN.  1824. 

it  exists  decidedly,  and  is  the  true  key  to  the  debates  in  Congress, 
wherein  you  see  many  calling  themselves  Republicans  and 
preaching  the  rankest  doctrines  of  the  old  Federalists.  One  of 
the  prominent  candidates  is  presumed  to  be  of  this  party ;  the 
other,  a  Republican  of  the  old  school,  and  a  friend  to  the  barrier 
of  State  rights  as  provided  by  the  Constitution  against  the  danger 
of  consolidation,  which  danger  was  the  principal  ground  of  oppo- 
sition to  it  at  its  birth.  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  will  decide 
this  question.  If  the  Missouri  principle  mixes  itself  in  the  ques- 
tion, it  will  go  one  way ;  if  not,  it  may  go  the  other.  Among 
the  smaller  motives,  hereditary  fears  may  alarm  on  one  side,  and 
the  long  line  of  local  nativities  on  the  other.  In  this  division  of 
parties  the  judges  are  true  to  their  ancient  vocation  of  sappers 
and  miners.  .  .  . 

J.  B.  THOMAS  i   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  5th  January,  1824. 

DEAR  SIR, — Mr.  Lowrie  returned  from  Philadelphia  three 
days  ago  with  the  pleasing  intelligence  that  a  large  majority  of 
both  branches  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  are  in  favor  of  a 
Congressional  caucus,  and  that  the  measure  is  daily  becoming 
much  more  popular  in  Philadelphia. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Ingham  has  lately  returned  from  Pennsylvania,  and, 
finding  public  opinion  there  averse  to  his  wishes,  he  or  some  one 
of  the  party  has  prepared  an  address  to  the  people  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, for  the  delegation  from  that  State  to  sign,  stating  that  a 
partial  caucus  only  could  be  gotten  up,  and  asking  instructions 
from  their  constituents.  I  understand  that  the  address  is  ingeni- 
ously written,  and  that  it  has  been  signed  by  eleven  of  the  Demo- 
cratic members  of  Congress.  After  this  address  was  signed  by 
all  who  would  act  without  consulting  Mr.  Lowrie,  a  meeting  of 
the  delegation  was  called  to  deliberate  upon  the  subject.  Mr.  L. 
attended,  and  after  endeavoring  to  operate  upon  the  fears  of  some 
who  had  signed  the  paper,  had  the  meeting  adjourned  over  till 
to-morrow  (Monday).  He  will,  if  possible,  procure  a  further 
postponement,  in  the  hope  that  you  will  be  here  in  a  few  days. 

1  U.  S.  Senator  from  Illinois. 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  593 

Many  of  your  friends  are  exceedingly  anxious  to  see  you  here, 
and  amongst  the  rest  Mr.  Lowrie  and  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  are 
both  efficient  men. 

Since  my  return  to  Washington  I  mentioned  to  those  gentle- 
men the  conversation  I  had  with  you  in  Baltimore,  and  had  the 
satisfaction  to  learn  that  they  approved  of  all  I  said. 

They  are  impressed  with  a  belief  that  your  immediate  presence 
here  at  the  present  crisis  is  all-important.  I  am  convinced  that 
nothing  could  be  more  gratifying  to  the  prominent  men  of  the 
Republican  party  than  to  receive  a  visit  from  you  at  this  time. 
Mr.  Crawford  would  be  delighted  to  see  you.  His  physicians, 
four  or  five  in  number,  have  had  a  consultation  to-day,  and  have 
pronounced  him  quite  out  of  danger. 

.  .  .  We  have  not  yet  been  able  to  devise  a  plan  by  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  can  be  drawn  out,  nor  is  it  probable  that  any  could 
be  adopted  which  would  be  as  likely  to  succeed  as  that  of  your 
addressing  him  on  the  subject.  If  nothing  more  can  be  obtained, 
the  letter  he  has  already  written  you  may  be  of  great  importance. 

In  haste,  I  am,  etc. 

NATHANIEL  MACON  TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  16th  January,  1824. 

SIR, — The  enclosed  has  been  handed  to  me  by  Mr.  Cobb,  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  Georgia.  It  is 
sent  to  you  as  the  best  mode  of  communicating  its  contents.  I 
know  not  to  what  it  relates. 

Tender  my  good-will  to  Mrs.  Gallatin  and  to  any  of  your 
children  who  may  be  with  you. 

Mr.  Crawford  is  mending  slowly ;  not  yet  in  a  condition  to 
write. 

God  preserve  you  and  all  that  are  near  and  dear  to  you  many 
years,  is  the  sincere  wish  of 

Your  old  friend. 

[Enclosure.] 

MR.  MACON, — Mr.  Crawford  requests  me  to  say  to  you  that 
he  wished  you  would  write  to  Mr.  Gallatin  and  tell  him  that  it 

38 


594  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1824. 

was  necessary  he  should  come  on  to  tLis  city,  for  that  his  (Mr. 
Gallatin's)  interests,  as  well  as  those  of  others,  were  suffering  in 
consequence  of  his  absence. 

THOS.  W.  COBB. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  24th  January,  1824. 

...  I  have  been  working  hard  in  order  to  be  released  as 
soon  as  possible;  this  morning  I  terminated  the  revision  and 
selection  of  my  correspondence,  and  hope  that  my  final  account 
will  be  settled  on  Monday.  .  .  .  The  idea  of  sending  a  special 
mission  to  England,  which  is  indeed  quite  unnecessary,  has  been 
given  up.  ...  I  was  on  Wednesday  evening  at  Mrs.  Monroe's 
evening,  where  she  appeared  for  the  first  time  this  season.  It 
was  as  crowded  as  any  Paris  rout,  and  there  were  several  hand- 
some ladies,  but  most  faces  of  both  sexes  were  new  to  me.  Ten 
years  is  an  age  in  Washington ;  the  place  seems  dull  to  me.  .  .  . 
I  hear  nothing  but  election  politics,  and  you  know  how  unpleas- 
ant the  subject  is  to  me.  .  .  .  Mr.  Crawford  is  mending  slowly. 
His  friends  are  not  perfectly  easy  about  his  final  recovery,  and 
Early  adduced  this  to  me  as  a  reason  why  I  should  be  made 
Vice-President.  My  answer  was  that  I  did  not  want  the  office, 
and  would  dislike  to  be  proposed  and  not  elected. 

A.   STEWART1   TO    GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  6th  February,  1824. 

DEAR  SIR, — A  caucus  will  be  held  here  on  the  14th  instant 
to  recommend  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

About  100  Republican  members,  it  is  understood,  will  attend. 
Mr.  Crawford  and  yourself  will  be  unanimously  nominated.  I 
know  of  but  one  gentleman  unfriendly  to  your  nomination,  and 
he  will  readily  acquiesce  in  whatever  is  done. 

The  election  of  the  Vice-President  nominated  is  considered 
certain,  be  the  fate  of  the  President  what  it  may. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

1  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania. 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  595 

WALTER   LOWRIE   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  10th  February,  1824. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  delayed  writing  till  I  could  write  with 
certainty  on  the  point  we  had  under  discussion  when  we  last 
parted.  You  will  now  be  nominated  for  the  situation  contem- 
plated, and  with  the  information  and  facts  in  our  possession  it  does 
not  require  the  spirit  of  prophecy  to  predict  that  final  success  will 
be  the  result.  In  the  other  office  more  uncertainty  prevails.  We 
have  a  hard  and  arduous  struggle  to  go  through,  involving  the 
very  existence  of  the  Republican  party. 

It  will  be  necessary  that  we  should  see  you  before  long.  At 
present  let  me  call  your  attention  to  one  point  in  which  we  want 
your  assistance.  We  are  very  desirous  that  Mr.  Macon  should 
attend  the  caucus.  He  has  hitherto  resisted  all  our  efforts.  A 
personal  interview  with  you,  it  is  believed,  would  have  been  con- 
clusive ;  that  is  now  too  late ;  but  I  submit  to  you  whether  you 
could  not  write  him  a  letter.  You  will  receive  this  letter  to- 
morrow, Thursday,  and  on  Friday  he  could  receive  yours.  I 
know  you  have  more  influence  with  him  than  any  other  man  ex- 
cept Mr.  Jefferson.  His  long  course  of  public  life  gives  him  an 
importance  which  he  is  not  otherwise  entitled  to.  The  oppo- 
sition papers  boast  that  he  will  not  attend.  In  the  present  crisis 
if  he  do  not,  he  will  lose  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  friends, 
and  instead  of  doing  his  friends  a  service,  he  will  do  himself  an 
injury. 

With  sincere  esteem,  yours. 

NATHANIEL   MACON   TO    GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  13th  February,  1824. 

SIR, — I  have  your  letter  of  yesterday ;  it  is  received  with  as 
much  good- will  and  kindness  as  it  was  written.  The  fatal  night 
which  you  mention,  and  which  produced  in  the  end  the  divisions 
among  the  three  Republicans  who  were  so  both  in  theory  and 
practice,  I  stated  to  the  meeting  they  had  beaten  me  by  having 
the  cards  packed,  and  that  I  never  would  attend  another  caucus, 
nor  have  I  unto  this  day ;  and  would  you  now,  my  old  and 


596  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1824. 

much  esteemed  friend,  have  me  to  appear  in  a  company  when 
and  where  any  person  could  tell  the  truth  and  say,  you  are  not  a 
man  of  your  word  ?  if  I  go  to  the  caucus,  it  would  be  the  first 
time  that  it  could  be  said  truly  to  me  in  my  whole  life. 

No  party,  as  I  have  often  told  you,  and  as  I  stated  at  the 
caucus  at  Marache's,  can  last  unless  founded  on  pure  principles ; 
and  the  minute  a  party  begins  to  intrigue  within  itself  is  the 
minute  when  the  seed  of  division  is  sown  and  its  purity  begins 
to  decline.  There  are  not,  I  imagine,  five  members  of  Congress 
who  entertain  the  opinions  which  those  did  who  brought  Mr. 
Jeiferson  into  power,  and  they  are  yet  mine.  Principles  can 
never  change,  and  what  has  lately  been  called  the  law  of  cir- 
cumstances is  an  abandonment  of  principle,  and  has  been  the 
ruin  of  all  free  governments,  and  if  the  Republican  party  fall 
in  the  United  States,  it  is  owing  to  the  same  cause. 

I  verily  believe  that  I  can  render  more  service  toward  electing 
Crawford  by  not  going  to  the  caucus  than  by  going,  but  I  do 
not  believe  that  I  have  the  influence  you  suppose ;  but  if  you 
are  right,  what  has  produced  it?  the  belief  that  I  follow  my 
own  notions. 

Two  of  my  friends  are  here  to  advise  me  to  attend,  and  have 
stopped  my  writing.  I  must  conclude  to  you  as  I  do  to  them ; 
I  cannot  go. 

I  would  much  rather  have  talked  with  you  on  the  subject. 
Remember  me  to  Mrs.  Gallatin  and  all  your  family,  and  believe 
me 

Truly  and  sincerely  your  friend. 

Written  in  great  haste  for  the  mail. 

NATHANIEL   MACON   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  14th  February,  1824. 

Sin, — Your  letter  of  the  12th  instant  was  yesterday  in  great 
haste  acknowledged.  For  some  time  past  my  situation  has  been 
unpleasant  indeed ;  so  much  so  that  I  have  a  thousand  times 
oar  oftener  wished  myself  at  home.  What  situation  can  be  more 
disagreeable  than  to  have  repeatedly  to  say  no  to  the  best  friends, 
and  that,  too,  to  the  same  question !  To  me  it  has  been  painful 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  597 

in  the  extreme;  no  one  who  has  not  felt  the  sensation  can 
imagine  the  distress  it  produces, — the  day  is  tiresome,  and  the 
night  tedious ;  in  the  morning  I  desire  night,  and  at  night  am 
anxious  for  the  morning, — and  to-day  is  the  most  perplexing  of 
all ;  a  something,  I  know  not  what,  oppresses  my  mind,  and  yet 
I  am  certain  that  my  determination  not  to  attend  the  caucus  is 
right,  and  what  I  ought  to  do  and  must  do.  The  great  charge 
against  Crawford  is  intrigue ;  add  to  what  was  written  yester- 
day, that  if  I  go  the  charge  will  be  renewed,  and  he  said  to  be 
the  only  man  who  had  touched  the  cord  which  could  move  me ; 
and  probably  the  wicked  and  false  adage  applied,  that  every 
man  has  his  price.  Time,  I  know,  would  prove  the  application 
false  as  regards  us  both ;  but  the  election  might  be  over  first, 
and  the  injury  done. 

Every  generation,  like  a  single  person,  has  opinions  of  its 
own ;  as  much  so  in  politics  as  anything  else.  This  opinion  is 
elegantly  expressed  in  the  book  of  Judges,  2d  chapter.  The 
opinions  of  Jefferson  and  those  who  were  with  him  are  forgot. 
On  reading  the  chapter  the  proper  and  intended  inference  will 
be  easily  made ;  I  hope,  however,  we  shall  not  suffer  as  did  the 
children  of  Israel  after  the  death  of  Joshua. 

Tender  in  your  best  manner  my  respects  and  regard  to  Mrs. 
Gallatin  and  your  family,  and  believe  me 

Your  unfeigned  friend. 

GALLATIN  TO  BADOLLBT. 

NEW  GENEVA,  PENNSYLVANIA,  29th  July,  1824. 
MY  DEAR  AND  OLD  FRIEND, — I  have  delayed  much  too 
long  answering  your  letter  of  last  year.  I  have  ever  since  been 
on  the  wing,  uncertain  where  I  would  fix  myself.  The  habits 
of  my  wife  and  children,  Albert's  excepted,  render  this  a  very 
ineligible  place  of  residence  to  them ;  but  the  impossibility  of 
subsisting  on  my  scanty  income  in  one  of  our  cities,  and  the 
necessity  of  attending  to  a  valuable  but  mismanaged  and  un- 
productive property,  have  left  me  no  choice;  and  we  are  all 
now  here,  including  James's  wife.  My  health  and  that  of 
my  daughter  are  delicate ;  the  other  members  of  the  family  are 


598  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     G  ALL  ATI  X.  1824. 

well.  With  the  exception  of  James  Nicholson,  all  my  old 
friends  are  dead  or  confined  by  old  age  to  their  homes ;  there 
is  not  in  this  quarter  the  slightest  improvement  in  the  state  of 
society,  or  indeed  of  any  kind ;  but  my  children  are  good  and 
very  affectionate ;  neither  of  my  sons,  unfortunately,  brought  up 
to  business.  Albert,  with  considerable  and  varied  talents  and 
acquired  knowledge,  but  as  yet  wanting  perseverance  and  steadi- 
ness ;  James  and  Francis  more  fitted  for  a  court  than  a  wilder- 
ness ;  my  wife  just  as  she  was  twenty-four  years  ago. 

The  last  seven  years  I  spent  in  Europe,  though  not  the  most 
useful,  were  the  most  pleasant,  of  my  life,  both  on  account  of 
my  reception  in  Geneva,  where  I  found  many  old  and  affection- 
ate friends  (Hentsch,  Dumont,  the  Tronchins,  Butiri,  &c.),  and 
from  my  standing  with  the  first  statesmen  and  men  of  merit  in 
France  and  England.  Where  you  do  not  stand  in  the  way  of 
anybody,  instead  of  collision  and  envy,  you  meet  with  much  in- 
dulgence if  you  can  fill  with  credit  the  place  you  occupy ;  and 
this  was  a  disposition  to  which  I  had  not  been  accustomed 
towards  me,  and  the  want  of  which  I  now  on  that  account  feel, 
perhaps,  more  than  formerly.  These  feelings  would  and  ought 
naturally  to  have  induced  me,  and  you  expressed  the  same  wish, 
to  withdraw  altogether  from  public  life ;  and  my  wife,  irksome 
to  her  as  is  her  residence  here,  was  of  the  same  opinion.  I  will 
briefly  state  what  has  brought  my  name  before  the  people  for 
the  office  of  Yice-President. 

During  the  twelve  years  I  w^as  in  the  Treasury,  I  was  anxiously 
looking  for  some  man  that  could  fill  my  place  there  and  in  the 
general  direction  of  the  national  concerns,  for  one  indeed  that 
could  replace  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  and  myself.  Brecken- 
ridge,  of  Kentucky,  only  appeared  and  died;  the  eccentricities 
and  temper  of  J.  Randolph  soon  destroyed  his  usefulness,  and 
only  one  man  at  last  appeared  who  filled  my  expectations.  This 
was  Mr.  Crawford,  who  united  to  a  powerful  mind  a  most  correct 
judgment  and  an  inflexible  integrity ;  which  last  quality,  not 
sufficiently  tempered  by  indulgence  and  civility,  has  prevented 
his  acquiring  general  popularity;  but,  notwithstanding  this  defect 
(for  it  is  one),  I  know  so  well  his  great  superiority  over  the  other 
candidates  for  the  office  of  President,  that  I  was  anxious  for  his 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  599 

election  and  openly  expressed  my  opinion.  I  would  not  even 
compare  Jackson  or  Calhoun  to  him,  the  first  an  honest  man  and 
the  idol  of  the  worshippers  of  military  glory,  but  from  inca- 
pacity, military  habits,  and  habitual  disregard  of  laws  and  con- 
stitutional provisions,  altogether  unfit  for  the  office ;  the  other  a 
smart  fellow,  one  of  the  first  amongst  second-rate  men,  but  of  lax 
political  principles  and  a  disordinate  ambition  not  over-delicate 
in  the  means  of  satisfying  itself.  John  Q.  Adams  is  a  virtuous 
man,  whose  temper,  which  is  not  the  best,  might  be  overlooked ; 
he  lias  very  great  and  miscellaneous  knowledge,  and  he  is  with 
his  pen  a  powerful  debater ;  but  he  wants  to  a  deplorable  degree 
that  most  essential  quality,  a  sound  and  correct  judgment.  Of 
this  I  have  had  in  my  official  connection  and  intercourse  with 
him  complete  and  repeated  proofs,  and,  although  he  may  be  use- 
ful when  controlled  and  checked  by  others,  he  ought  never  to  be 
trusted  with  a  place  where  unrestrained  his  errors  might  be  fatal 
to  the  country.  Mr.  Clay  has  his  faults,  but  splendid  talents 
and  a  generous  mind.  I  certainly  prefer  Mr.  Crawford  to  him, 
although  he  is  far  more  popular ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding  that 
popularity,  I  believe  that,  particularly  since  the  West  is  split 
between  him  and  Jackson,  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  be 
elected,  and  that  the  contest  is  in  fact  between  Crawford  and 
Adams.  Almost  all  the  old  Republicans  (Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr. 
Madison  amongst  them)  think  as  I  do ;  but  they  were  aware  that 
Mr.  Crawford  was  not  very  popular,  and  that  the  bond  of  party, 
which  had  with  great  many  produced  the  effect  of  patriotism  and 
knowledge,  being  nearly  dissolved,  neither  of  the  other  candidates 
would  withdraw,  and  they  were  at  a  loss  whom  to  unite  to  him 
as  Vice-President.  I  advised  to  nominate  nobody  for  that  office, 
or,  if  anybody,  some  person  from  New  York  or  New  England. 
The  last  was  attached  to  Adams ;  there  were  contentions  in  New 
York.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  thought  the  persons  pro- 
posed there  too  obscure,  and  that  my  name  would  serve  as  a 
banner  and  show  their  nomination  to  be  that  of  the  old  Republi- 
can party.  I  thought  and  still  think  that  they  were  mistaken ; 
that  as  a  foreigner,  as  residuary  legatee  of  the  Federal  hatred, 
and  as  one  whose  old  services  were  forgotten  and  more  recent 
ones  though  more  useful  were  but  little  known,  my  name  could 


600  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALL  ATI  N.  1824. 

be  of  no  service  to  the  cause.  They  insisted,  and,  being  nomi- 
nated both  by  the  members  of  Congress  and  by  the  Legislature 
of  Virginia,  I  could  not  honorably  withdraw,  though  my  reluc- 
tance was  much  increased  by  the  dead  opposition  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  is,  and  nowhere  more  than  in  this  vicinity,  Jackson  mad. 
From  all  I  can  collect,  I  think  Mr.  Crawford's  election  (notwith- 
standing this  mistake)  nearly  certain,  and  mine  improbable.  So 
much  for  my  apology,  which  I  could  not  make  shorter.  I  have 
now  said  everything,  I  believe,  respecting  me  which  could  in- 
terest you ;  and  I  have  only  to  entreat  you  not  to  disappoint  the 
hope  you  gave  me,  and  to  come  and  spend  these  unhealthy  sum- 
mer and  autumnal  months  with  us,  where  at  least  fevers  have  not 
yet  penetrated,  although  they  prevailed  last  year  everywhere  east 
of  Cumberland  and  west  of  Wheeling.  In  summer  I  must  neces- 
sarily to  preserve  health  be  at  rest,  and  if  to  eifect  an  interview, 
probably  the  last,  so  dear  to  both,  it  is  necessary  that  you  should 
have  the  trouble  and  fatigue  of  the  journey,  it  is  but  strict  jus- 
tice (if  that  was  any  object  between  us)  that  the  expense  should 
be  defrayed  by  me.  Let  not  that,  therefore,  stop  you,  and  come 
once  more  to  see  your  old  friend  and  refresh  your  old  age  by 
recollections  of  ancient  times.  I  will  add  to  the  stock  much 
that  is  pleasing  from  Geneva.  Seventeen  years  of  French  yoke 
have  united  the  parties  as  far  as  union  is  practicable  in  a  free 
country.  If  there  are  differences  of  opinion,  they  apply  to  details 
of  administration ;  the  old  distinctions,  so  odious  to  the  people, 
are  done  away.  To  the  general  council  and  to  that  of  Two  Hun- 
dred has  been  substituted  a  large  elective  representative  council, 
where,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  virtue  and  talents  are  almost  the 
only  titles  for  admission,  where  the  most  obscure  and  newest  names 
are  mixed  with  the  oldest  of  the  Republic,  where  Dumont,  Bel- 
lamy, and  two  Pictets  are  in  opposition  to  Desarts,  D'Yvernois, 
and  most  of  the  old  wigs  (which  have  been,  however,  set  aside). 
But  what  kind  of  opposition?  I  have  read  many  of  their 
debates ;  and,  independent  of  the  interest  I  felt  for  questions  to 
others  of  small  and  local  importance,  any  one  may  admire  the 
train  of  close  and  logical  reasoning  they  display,  and  must  be 
delighted  with  the  candor  and  mutual  forbearance  which  charac- 
terize them.  They  are  like  discussions  conducted  amicably  but 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  601 

with  perfect  freedom  by  members  of  the  same  family  respecting 
their  common  concerns.  Nor  are  the  ancient  manners  much 
altered.  A  few  amongst  the  most  ignorant  and  vicious,  the  rem- 
nant of  those  who  disgraced  Geneva  in  1794,  not  above  three  or 
four  hundred,  hardly  any  of  the  old  bourgeoisie,  have,  I  am  told, 
been  corrupted  by  the  French  whilst  in  power  and  their  morals 
have  been  affected ;  but  those  of  the  great  bulk  are  better  than 
before  the  revolutions,  and  they  are  as  pure  Genevans,  as  little 
Frenchified,  as  you  could  desire.  Speaking  of  old  bourgeoisie, 
the  distinction  does  not  exist ;  citoyens,  bourgeois  and  natifs  are 
in  every  respect,  civil  and  political,  on  the  same  footing.  And 
here  let  me  observe  how  powerful  is  the  moral  effect  of  virtue 
and  knowledge.  Whilst  Venice,  Genoa,  Belgium,  &c.,  &c., 
have  been  bartered  away  without  scruple  or  regard  to  the  wishes 
of  the  people,  not  only  have  Holland  and  Switzerland  escaped 
unhurt,  because  they  had  both  a  national  character  and  were 
truly  nations,  but  even  little  Geneva  has  been  respected  and  re- 
stored to  its  independence,  whilst  more  than  forty  imperial  cities 
have  been  left  in  the  possession  of  the  princes  who  had  usurped 
them  with  the  permission  of  Bonaparte.  I  might  say  much 
more,  but  must  reserve  it  for  the  time  when  we  meet.  In  that 
hope,  and  with  my  love  to  all  the  members  of  your  family,  I 
remain  ever  yours. 

My  wife  and  James  Nicholson  send  their  best  compliments. 

By  the  by,  you  owe  me  nothing.  Your  sister  was  too  proud 
to  permit  me  to  join  in  the  support  of  your  father,  and  your 
brother's  return  in  1818  relieved  her  difficulties.  I  have  not 
heard  from  them  since  that  time,  and  was  not  in  Geneva  subse- 
quent to  1817. 

Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Gallatin's  candidacy,  the  rapid  spread 
of  General  Jackson's  party  overthrew  all  ordinary  calculation. 
Mr.  Calhoun's  friends,  finding  their  candidate  pressed  out  of  the 
course,  made  terms  with  the  Jackson  managers,  by  which  Mr. 
Calhoun  received  the  combined  support  of  both  bodies  for  the 
Vice-Presidency.  This  suggested  a  brilliant  stroke  of  political 
genius  to  the  fertile  brain  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  who,  in  those 


602  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1824. 

days,  was  not  one  of  Jackson's  followers.  As  Jackson's  chances 
were  improved  by  coalescing  with  Calhoun,  who  reduced  his 
claims  accordingly,  so  Mr.  Crawford's  chances  might  be  im- 
proved by  coalescing  with  Mr.  Clay,  provided  the  latter  could 
also  be  persuaded  to  accept  the  position  of  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency.  Mr.  Clay  was  sounded  on  this  subject  early 
in  September,  as  appears  from  his  private  correspondence,  and 
his  reply,  dated  September  10,1  seems  to  have  been  considered  as 
not  discouraging,  for,  on  the  25th  September,  Mr.  Van  Buren 
approached  Mr.  Gallatin  with  a  formal  recommendation  that  he 
should  withdraw.  Mr.  Gallatin  felt  relieved  at  being  permitted 
to  escape  even  in  this  manner.  He  withdrew  from  the  canvass. 
The  result  was  that  Calhoun  was  elected  Vice-President  by  the 
people;  that  Jackson,  Adams,  and  Crawford  went  before  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  that  Mr.  Clay  caused  the  election 
of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  Presidency. 

WALTER   LOWKIE   TO   GALLATIN. 

BUTLER,  25th  September,  1824. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — The  subject  of  which  this  letter  treats  has 
given  me  the  most  severe  pain  of  mind.  The  bearer,  our  mutual 
friend  General  Lacock,  will  inform  you  of  the  situation  of  my 
family  which  has  prevented  me  from  accompanying  him  to  see 
you. 

From  the  most  authentic  information  communicated  to  me  by 
your  friends  in  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Maryland,  Delaware, 
New  Jersey,  and  New  York,  the  most  serious  fears  are  enter- 
tained that  Mr.  Calhoun  will  be  elected  by  the  electors.  Or  if 
he  should  not,  his  vote  will  be  so  great  that  his  chance  in  the 
Senate  will  be  almost  conclusive  in  his  favor.  On  this  subject 
I  have  not  a  feeling  I  would  not  be  desirous  that  you  should 
know.  No  man  can  desire  your  success  more  than  I  do.  Still, 
my  dear  sir,  I  believe  your  chance  of  success  is  now  almost  hope- 
less, and,  assuming  that  as  a  fact,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  The  ques- 
tion has  been  met  by  a  number  of  our  friends,  and  they  have 

1  See  Private  Correspondence  of  Henry  Clay,  p.  103. 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  603 

suggested  the  arrangement  which  Mr.  Lacock  will  make  known 
to  you.  This  plan  has  the  approbation  of  as  many  of  our  friends 
as  it  was  possible  to  consult,  all  of  them  your  most  decided  friends. 
They  are,  however,  afraid  of  your  success,  and  wish,  if  possible,  to 
have  an  arrangement  made  with  Mr.  Clay,  to  which  if  he  would 
consent,  it  would  go  far  to  secure  the  election  of  Mr.  Crawford. 
After  the  most  deep  and  anxious  reflection  I  have  been  able  to 
bestow  on  the  subject,  I  would  advise  you  to  withdraw  from  the 
contest.  How  that  should  be  done,  in  case  you  approve  of  it,  I 
do  not  know.  Your  feelings  and  views  of  the  best  manner  of 
doing  it  would  be  conclusive  with  me.  The  arrangement  sub- 
mitted to  Mr.  Lacock  and  myself  contemplated  your  remaining 
on  the  ticket  till  near  the  election,  in  case  Mr.  Clay  would  con- 
sent ;  and  if  he  would  not  consent,  then  for  you  to  remain  on 
the  ticket  to  the  last.  I  confess  I  do  not  like  this  conditional 
arrangement,  and  the  letter  of  Mr.  Dickinson  makes  me  dislike 
it  more.  These  points  are  all  open,  and  I  was  most  desirous  of 
seeing  you  and  getting  your  views  upon  them.  In  case  you  ap- 
prove of  having  your  name  withdrawn,  it  occurs  to  me  that  the 
best  manner  would  be  in  a  letter  to  Judge  Ruggles,  which  might 
be  published  a  few  days  after  Mr.  Lacock's  departure.  In  that 
case  Clay  would  not  be  informed  of  it  till  Mr.  Lacock  would 
have  seen  him,  and  his  decision  might  have  been  different  than 
if  he  knew  absolutely  that  you  had  withdrawn.  If  you  prefer 
the  other,  howrever,  that  is,  to  place  your  withdrawing  on  the 
contingency  of  Mr.  Clay's  co-operation,  I  am  .perfectly  satisfied. 
Indeed,  I  feel  quite  at  a  loss  how  to  advise  in  the  case.  Indeed, 
in  this  whole  communication  I  write  under  the  greatest  pain  and 
embarrassment.  Every  step  I  have  taken  in  regard  to  your 
name  being  placed  before  the  nation  was  dictated  by  the  purest 
friendship  to  you  and  the  clearest  sense  of  duty  to  my  country. 
To  have  had  any  agency  in  placing  you  in  a  situation  at  all  cal- 
culated to  wound  your  feelings  or  give  pain  to  your  mind,  is  to 
me  a  source  of  painful  reflection.  This,  added  to  the  perplexed 
state  of  public  opinion  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  final  result, 
brings  with  it  a  distress  of  mind  I  have  never  heretofore  expe- 
rienced. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  with  sincere  esteem,  your  friend. 


604  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1824. 

GALLATIN   TO   MR.  LOWRIE. 

FAYETTE  COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA,  October  2,  1824. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  25th  of  September,  received 
on  the  29th,  has  caused  me  much  perplexity,  not  from  any  hesi- 
tation as  to  the  principles  which  should  govern  my  conduct,  but 
from  want  of  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  facts. 

It  is  evident  that  I  ought  not  to  decline  from  mere  per- 
sonal motives  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  mortification  of  a  defeat, 
especially  if  this  should  be  in  any  degree  injurious  to  the  public 
cause.  There  is  in  a  nomination  a  mutual  though  tacit  pledge 
of  support,  on  the  part  of  those  who  nominate,  of  standing  a 
candidate  on  the  part  of  the  person  nominated. 

But  my  withdrawing  would  be  proper  in  case  my  continuing 
to  stand  should  either  appear  injurious  to  the  election  of  Mr. 
Crawford  or  prevent  the  election  of  a  proper  person  to  the  office 
of  Vice-President.  On  either  the  one  or  the  other  of  those 
grounds  I  consider  your  communications  decisive  so  far  as  re- 
lates to  New  Jersey  and  New  York.  There  may  be  no  difficulty 
with  respect  to  Georgia  and  any  other  State  where  the  choice 
of  electors  remains  with  the  Legislature.  The  embarrassment  is 
principally  in  relation  to  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  I  am 
sensible  that  my  name  is  in  itself  of  no  weight  anywhere ;  but  it 
is  not  for  me,  consulting  only  my  feelings,  to  decide  whether, 
after  the  active  exertions  of  committees  and  individuals  in  favor 
of  the  two  candidates  nominated  at  Washington,  the  withdrawing 
the  name  of  one  on  the  eve  of  a  popular  election  and  without 
substituting  another  in  his  place,  may  prove  favorable  or  inju- 
rious to  the  success  of  the  Republican  tickets. 

With  that  view  of  the  subject,  my  answer  to  Mr.  Lacock  was 
that  I  would  leave  the  decision  with  the  central  committee  of 
correspondence  for  the  State  of  Virginia.  To  that  State  I  am 
more  particularly  bound,  as  the  only  one  where,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, the  nomination  of  Washington  was  confirmed  in  full  by 
the  Republican  members  of  the  Legislature.  The  committee  is 
their  legitimate  organ ;  and  from  their  local  situation  they  also 
are  best  able  to  form  an  opinion  concerning  North  Carolina,  with 
which  last  State  there  was  hardly  time  to  consult,  and  whose 


1824.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  605 

arrangements  on  the  subject  of  the  election  are  not  known  to  me. 
Our  friends  in  those  districts  of  Maryland  which  may  be  favor- 
able to  us  might  also  be  consulted. 

I  am  still  of  the  same  opinion ;  but  considering  how  little  time 
remains  and  how  much  would  be  lost  by  corresponding  with  me, 
I  enclose  my  declaration  that  I  wish  my  name  to  be  withdrawn, 
not  directed  to  Mr.  Ruggles,  since  he  is  not  to  judge  whether 
and  when  it  must  be  used,  but  intended  for  publication  in  the 
newspapers  at  the  discretion  of  the  committee  for  Virginia,  who 
will  of  course  consult,  if  necessary,  with  Mr.  Van  Buren  on  the 
subject. 

There  will  be  no  necessity  for  that  consultation  if  they  think 
it  advantageous  in  the  Southern  States  that  my  name  should  be 
withdrawn  prior  to  the  election  of  electors.  They  may  at  once 
in  that  case  publish  my  declaration,  since  it  is  ascertained  that  the 
effect  will  be  favorable  in  the  North.  To  me  that  course  would 
be  the  most  agreeable.  The  publication  must  at  all  events  be 
made  before  the  result  of  the  election  of  electors  is  ascertained, 
and  prior  to  their  being  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  New 
York. 

In  order  to  avoid  delays  as  far  as  depends  on  me,  I  will  enclose 
copies  of  my  declining  and  of  the  substance  of  this  letter  both  to 
Mr.  Van  Buren  at  Albany  and  to  Mr.  Stephenson  at  Richmond, 
to  be  communicated  by  him  to  the  committee  of  correspondence, 
as  I  do  not  know  their  names.  But  he  may  be  absent,  and  it 
will  be  necessary  for  you  to  write  not  only  to  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
but  also  to  Richmond,  enclosing  copy  of  my  declining  and  of 
such  parts  of  this  letter  as  will  put  them  in  full  possession  of  the 
subject. 

The  publication  of  my  declining  should  be  made,  as  far  as 
practicable,  simultaneously  in  the  National  Intelligencer  and 
principal  State  papers. 

I  advised  Mr.  Lacock  against  negotiating  in  person  with  Mr. 
Clay,  as  I  thought  that  it  would  only  encourage  him  to  advise 
his  friends  in  New  York  to  make  no  compromise  that  would  not 
secure  him  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  votes  of  that  State  for  Presi- 
dent. The  only  way,  it  seemed  to  me,  was  to  convince  him,  by 
the  choice  of  the  electors  there,  that  he  had  no  chance  for  that 


606  LIFE     OF     ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1824. 

office.  This,  however,  was  an  opinion  on  a  subject  in  which  I 
can  have  nothing  more  to  say. 

Of  jour  friendship,  sincerity,  and  patriotic  motives  I  am  most 
perfectly  satisfied.  My  nomination  has  been  a  miscalculation, 
and  however  painful  the  results  may  be  to  our  feelings,  having 
nothing  to  reproach  ourselves  with  throughout  the  whole  trans- 
action, there  is  nothing  in  it  save  the  effect  it  may  have  on  the 
public  cause  that  can  give  us  any  permanent  uneasiness. 

I  have  but  one  observation  to  add.  From  my  experience, 
both  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  made  Yice-President  and  when, 
in  1808,  Mr.  Clinton  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office,  I  know 
that  nothing  can  be  more  injurious  to  an  Administration  than  to 
have  in  that  office  a  man  in  hostility  with  that  Administration,  as 
he  will  always  become  the  most  formidable  rallying-point  for  the 
opposition. 

I  remain,  respectfully  and  sincerely,  your  friend  and  obedient 
servant. 

This  chapter  of  secret  political  history  will  hardly  stand  com- 
parison with  what  were  at  least  the  earnest  phases  of  party  poli- 
tics in  the  days  when  Mr.  Gallatin  was  really  a  leader.  Parties 
had  no  longer  a  principle,  and  it  was  clearly  time  for  Mr.  Galla- 
tin to  retire.  On  the  3d  December,  when  it  was  certain  that  no 
choice  had  been  made  by  the  people,  he  wrote  from  New  Geneva 
to  his  son :  "  The  Republican  party  seems  to  me  to  be  fairly 
defunct.  Our  principal  misfortune  was  perhaps  the  want  of  a 
popular  candidate.  The  great  defect  of  our  system  is  the  mon- 
archical principle  admitted  in  our  Constitution." 

The  election  of  Mr.  Adams  took  place  on  February  9,  1825. 
Rumors  in  regard  to  the  new  Cabinet  were  communicated  by 
Mr.  Stewart,  the  representative  of  Fayette  County,  to  James 
Gallatin,  at  Baltimore,  who  wrote  them  to  his  father.  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  replied  in  a  letter  of  February  19.  Mr.  James  Gallatin, 
who,  as  a  boy  at  Ghent,  had  been  a  favorite  of  Mr.  Adams, 
enclosed  this  letter  to  the  new  President  without  his  father's 
knowledge.  Mr.  Adams  replied  at  once,  and  the  correspond- 
ence will  serve  to  close  this  account  of  the  election  of  1824-25, 
disappointing  and  unsatisfactory  to  every  one  who  shared  in  it. 


1825.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  607 

ANDREW   STEWART   TO  JAMES   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  15th  February,  1825. 

.  .  .  Many  rumors  are  afloat  on  the  subject  of  the  new  Cabi- 
net. The  Treasury  Department  has  been  offered  to  Mr.  Craw- 
ford in  the  most  flattering  terms,  which  he  has,  however,  declined. 
It  is  confidently  asserted  that  it  has  been  or  will  be  offered  to 
your  father.  Whether  he  will  be  disposed  to  accept  you  know 
best.  There  is  evidently  a  strong  wish  to  conciliate  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Crawford  to  the  new  Administration. 


ALBERT   GALLATIN   TO   JAMES   GALLATIN. 

NEW  GENEVA,  PENNSYLVANIA,  19th  February,  1825. 

MY  DEAR  JAMES, — Young  Ebert  has  brought  me  this  even- 
ing your  letter  of  the  16th.  I  have  heard  nothing  on  the  subject 
either  from  Mr.  Adams  or  from  any  other  person.  The  Wash- 
ington mail  for  this  place,  which  may  have  arrived  to-day  at 
Union,  will  not  reach  New  Geneva  before  Thursday. 

I  am  sorry  to  find  that  you  feel  so  much  for  me  on  account  of 
the  late  political  disappointments.  There  is  much  consolation  in 
the  reflection  that,  having  served  the  country  with  entire  devo- 
tion, perfect  fidelity,  and  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  the  loss  of 
my  popularity  is  not  owing  to  any  improper  conduct  on  my  part. 
We  must  cheerfully  submit  to  what  we  cannot  prevent,  enjoy 
with  thanks  the  blessings  within  our  reach,  and  not  make  our- 
selves unhappy  by  unavailing  regrets.  This  I  mean  as  advice 
to  you ;  for  I  really  do  not  want  it  for  myself. 

As  to  my  accepting  the  Treasury  Department,  it  is  out  of 
question.  I  refused  it  in  1816,  when  offered  by  Mr.  Madison. 
To  fill  that  office  in  the  manner  I  did,  and  as  it  ought  to  be  filled, 
is  a  most  laborious  task  and  labor  of  the  most  tedious  kind.  To 
fit  myself  for  it,  to  be  able  to  understand  thoroughly,  to  embrace 
and  to  control  all  its  details,  took  from  me,  during  the  two  first 
years  I  held  it,  every  hour  of  the  day  and  many  of  the  night, 
and  had  nearly  brought  a  pulmonary  complaint.  I  filled  the 
office  twelve  years,  and  was  fairly  worn  out.  Having  lost  sight 
of  the  details  during  the  last  twelve  years  would  require  a 


608  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1825. 

new  effort,  which,  at  this  time,  it  would  be  unjust  and  cruel  to 
require  of  me. 

But  even  with  respect  to  the  Department  of  State,  for  which 
I  am  better  calculated  than  any  other,  and  as  fit  as  any  other 
person,  it  appears  to  me,  considering  the  situation  in  which  I 
have  been  placed,  that  unless  Mr.  Crawford  had  remained  in 
the  Administration,  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  become  a 
member  of  it.  This  is  much  strengthened  by  the  surmises  to 
which  Mr.  Clay's  conduct  has  given  birth,  and  by  the  circum- 
stance of  his  accepting  one  of  the  Departments.  I  must  and 
will  at  all  events  remain  above  the  reach  of  suspicion. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  speaking  or  wishing  to  act 
in  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams  or  to  his  Administration.  I  wish, 
on  the  contrary,  that  it  may  redound  to  his  honor  and  be  bene- 
ficial to  his  country.  I  had  always  stated  to  Mr.  Crawford  him- 
self and  to  our  friends  that,  next  to  him,  Mr.  Adams  was  my 
choice  among  the  other  candidates.  To  receive  our  support  he 
has  only  to  act  in  conformity  with  our  principles. 

If  you  should  write  to  Stewart,  enter  into  no  details,  and  only 
say  that  you  are  satisfied,  from  the  general  tenor  of  my  corre- 
spondence, that  I  had  not  as  late  as  this  day  received  the  offer 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  that,  if  offered,  I  could  not 
accept  it. 

25th  February. 

I  received  yours  of  19th  inst.  The  information  given  you 
by  A.  Stewart  appears  to  have  been  erroneous,  as  I  have  received 
nothing  from  Mr.  Adams.  I  am  glad  of  it,  as  I  like  better  not 
to  be  appointed  than  to  have  to  decline  the  appointment.  .  .  . 

J.  Q.  ADAMS   TO   JAMES   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  26th  February,  1825. 

DEAR  SIR, — Conformably  to  your  desire,  I  return  herewith 
your  father's  letter,  with  my  thanks  for  the  perusal  of  it.  I 
have  always  entertained  a  very  high  opinion  of  your  father's 
character  and  public  services,  and  am  much  gratified  with  the 
sentiments  personal  towards  me  expressed  in  his  letter.  That 
he  will  support  the  Administration  so  far  as  its  conduct  shall  be 


1825.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  609 

conformable  to  the  principles  which  he  approves  is  what  I  should 
have  expected  from  his  sense  of  justice. 

My  personal  feelings  towards  your  father,  particularly  since 
we  were  associated  together  in  the  negotiations  for  peace  and 
commerce  with  Great  Britain,  have  been  eminently  friendly. 
They  are  so  still,  and  it  would  have  been  gratifying  to  me  to 
have  had  the  benefit  of  his  assistance  in  the  Administration 
about  to  commence.  The  reasons  assigned  in  his  letter  for  his 
declining  the  Treasury  Department  were  chiefly  those  which 
deterred  me  from  offering  him  a  nomination  to  it ;  and  those  of 
them  founded  upon  objections  to  oppressively  laborious  duties 
applying  more  forcibly  still  to  the  Department  of  State  than  to 
that  of  the  Treasury  contributed  to  my  conclusion  that  neither 
of  them  would  have  been  acceptable  to  him.  Had  I  been  aware 
that  his  acceptance  of  the  Department  of  State  would  have  been 
conditional  either  upon  Mr.  Crawford's  remaining  in  the  Ad- 
ministration or  upon  Mr.  Clay's  exclusion  from  it,  or  upon  both, 
it  would  have  been  to  me  an  additional  motive  to  refrain  from 
making  the  offer.  Approving  altogether  of  your  father's  de- 
termination to  remain  above  the  reach  of  suspicion,  I  should 
never  make  him  a  proposal  by  the  acceptance  of  which,  even  in 
his  own  imagination,  a  taint  of  suspicion  could  attach  to  his 
character.  It  is  my  earnest  wish  that  he  may  to  the  end  of  his 
days  remain  above  the  reach  of  suspicion ;  but,  as  that  does  not 
always  depend  upon  ourselves,  if  it  should  prove  otherwise  I 
can  only  hope  that  every  suspicion  which  may  befall  him  should 
be  as  unjust  and  groundless  as  the  surmises  to  which  Mr.  Clay's 
conduct  has  given  birth. 

The  parental  advice  in  your  father's  letter  is  worthy  of  his 
firmness  and  conscious  integrity.  These  are  never-failing  sup- 
ports under  the  loss  of  public  favor.  This,  however,  has  not 
been  sustained  by  him  to  the  extent  which  he  appears  to  appre- 
hend. The  respect  for  his  character  and  services  continues  un- 
impaired; in  my  mind  at  least  it  remains  as  strong  as  ever, 
unaffected  even  by  the  distrust  which  I  regret  to  see  entertained 
by  him,  of  the  error  of  which  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  live  to 
be  convinced. 

I  am,  with  great  regard  and  esteem,  dear  sir,  &c. 

39 


610  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1825. 


GALLATIN  TO  BADOLLET. 


GENEVA,  PENNSYLVANIA,  18th  March,  1825. 

Your  good  letter  afforded  me,  my  dear  friend,  great  satisfac- 
tion, and  would  have  been  long  ago  answered  had  it  not  been 
for  the  uncertainty  of  my  movements  this  spring.  You  had 
designated  the  month  of  April  as  the  time  of  your  intended 
visit  here,  and  I  had  made  arrangements  to  be  absent  during 
that  and  the  ensuing  month  on  a  visit  which  I  had  believed 
indispensable  to  my  lands  in  Ohio  and  on  Kanawha.  It  has  at 
last  been  agreed  that  James  will  go  in  my  place,  so  that  I  will 
be  here  from  this  time  to  the  month  of  October.  I  expect  you, 
therefore,  this  spring,  and  hope  that  nothing  will  intervene  to 
prevent  the  mutual  pleasure  of  this  meeting. 

I  see  by  your  letter  that  you  are  not  perfectly  satisfied  either 
with  yourself  or  the  world.  As  to  the  first,  I  may  say  with 
truth  that  you  have  less  to  reproach  yourself  with  than  any 
other  person  within  my  knowledge.  But  I  believe  emigration, 
when  not  compulsory,  to  be  always  an  error,  and  you  are  the 
only  person  that  Lever  induced  to  take  that  step  ;  so  that  even 
in  that  respect  the  blame  must  at  least  be  shared  between  us. 
As  to  the  world,  I  have  been,  like  you,  disappointed  in  the 
estimate  I  had  formed  of  the  virtue  of  mankind  and  of  its 
influence  over  others.  Every  day's  experience  convinces  us 
that  most  unprincipled  men  are  often  most  successful.  In  this 
country  there  is  much  more  morality  and  less  of  integrity  than 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  This  we  cannot  help  ;  and  as  to 
myself,  taking  everything  into  consideration,  I  have  had  so 
much  greater  share  of  all  that  appears  desirable  than  I  had  any 
right  to  expect,  that  I  have  none  to  complain.  Yours  has  been 
a  harder  lot,  yet  I  doubt  whether  not  as  happy.  .  .  . 

My  general  health  is  good,  and  I  do  not  look  older  than  I 
am;  but  I  am  weak  and  cannot  bear  any  fatigue.  This,  indeed, 
is  the  reason  why  my  family  insisted  that  I  should  not  take  my 
intended  journey.  .  .  .  My  old  friends  in  this  country  are  almost 
all  dead  ;  the  few  survivors  .  .  .  quite  superannuated.  .  .  . 

The  experiment  of  living  at  Friendship  Hill  did  not  succeed. 


1825.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829. 

Not  only  was  New  Geneva  an  unsuitable  place  for  the  advance- 
ment of  children,  but  it  was  beyond  question  intolerably  dull  for 
Mr.  Gallatin  himself.  He  made  the  experiment  during  one  winter, 
and  then  abandoned  it,  as  it  proved,  forever.  The  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  offered  him  in  May,  1825,  the  appointment  of 
Canal  Commissioner,  a  compliment  to  his  well-known  interest  in 
internal  improvements,  which  he  declined.  America  was  now 
convulsed  by  the  visit  of  La  Fayette,  almost  the  first  occasion  on 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  showed  their  capacity  for 
a  genuine  national  enthusiasm.  In  his  triumphal  progress,  La 
Fayette  passed  through  Western  Pennsylvania  and  was  publicly 
welcomed  by  Mr.  Gallatin  in  an  address  delivered  before  the 
court-house  at  Uniontown,  in  which  he  touched  with  much  skill 
upon  the  subjects  which  were  then  most  deeply  interesting  the 
liberals  of  all  nations, — the  emancipation  of  the  Spanish  colonies 
and  of  Greece.  La  Fayette  was  a  propagandist  of  the  Greek 
cause  in  America,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  had  always  sympathized 
with  him  on  this  point,  even  to  the  extent  of  meriting  the  thanks 
of  the  Greek  government  while  he  was  minister  in  Paris.  In 
the  address  to  La  Fayette  at  Uniontown  he  spoke  with  extraor- 
dinary earnestness  of  the  critical  situation  of  the  Greeks : 

"  The  cause  is  not  yet  won  !  An  almost  miraculous  resistance 
may  yet  perhaps  be  overwhelmed  by  the  tremendous  superiority 
of  numbers.  And  will  the  civilized,  the  Christian  world, — for 
those  words  are  synonymous, — will  they  look  with  apathy  on  the 
dreadful  catastrophe  that  would  ensue?  A  catastrophe  which 
they,  which  even  we  alone  could  prevent  with  so  much  facility 
and  almost  without  danger?  I  am  carried  beyond  what  I  in- 
tended to  say.  It  is  due  to  your  presence, — do  I  not  know  that 
wherever  man,  struggling  for  liberty,  for  existence,  is  most  in 
danger,  there  is  your  heart  ?" 

The  address  to  La  Fayette  was  a  last  revival  of  the  old  flame 
of  eloquence  and  of  republican  feeling  which  had  controlled  and 
inspired  the  opposition  to  Washington  and  John  Adams.  It 
should  be  read  after  reading  the  great  speech  on  foreign  inter- 
course delivered  in  1798,  and  taken  in  that  connection  it  will 
offer  a  curious  standard  for  comparing  the  movement  of  parties 
and  of  men. 


612  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1825. 

La  Fayette  was  received  at  Uniontown  on  the  26th  May,  1825, 
and  the  next  day  he  drove  with  Mr.  Gallatin  to  Friendship  Hill, 
where  he  passed  the  night  and  resumed  his  journey  on  the  28th. 
His  mind  was  full  of  his  triumphal  progress,  and  of  the  fortunes 
of  Greece,  but  he  was  allowed  little  rest  even  in  the  retirement 
of  New  Geneva.  Crowds  of  people  thronged  Mr.  Gallatin's 
house,  and  there  could  be  little  sensible  or  connected  conversation 
in  the  midst  of  such  excitement. 

On  the  10th  June,  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  We  are 
here  very  retired,  which  suits  me  and  my  sons,  but  is  not  so 
agreeable  to  the  ladies.  .  .  .  The  uniformity  of  our  life  has  been 
enlivened  by  the  visit  of  our  friend  La  Fayette ;  but  he  was  in 
great  hurry,  and  the  Nation's  Guest  had  but  little  time  to  give 
to  his  personal  friends,  that,  too,  encumbered  even  in  my  house 
with  a  prodigious  crowd." 

After  a  summer  on  the  Monongahela,  Mr.  Gallatin  took  his 
family  to  Baltimore  for  the  winter.  Early  in  November  he 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Clay,  then  Secretary  of  State,  offering 
him  the  position  of  representative  of  the  United  States  at  the 
proposed  Congress  of  American  republics  at  Panama.  When 
Mr.  Gallatin  declined  the  post,  on  account  of  the  climate  and  the 
language,  Mr.  Clay  wrote  again  urging  reconsideration.  He 
said :  "  I  think  the  mission  the  most  important  ever  sent  from  this 
country,  those  only  excepted  which  related  to  its  independence 
and  the  termination  of  the  late  war.  It  will  have  objects  which 
cannot  fail  to  redound  to  the  lasting  fame  of  our  negotiators,  if 
they  should  be  accomplished,  as  I  think  there  is  much  reason  to 
believe  they  may  be."  Mr.  Gallatin  thoroughly  sympathized  in 
the  policy  of  strengthening  the  relations  between  the  American 
republics,  but  persisted  in  declining  the  appointment.  The 
opposition  of  his  family  seems  to  have  been  his  principal 
difficulty. 

Towards  the  spring  of  1826,  a  new  demand  was  made  on  his 
services.  President  Adams  had  on  assuming  office  recalled  Mr. 
Rush  from  England  to  take  charge  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
and  had  sent  Mr.  Rufus  King  to  London.  Mr.  King's  health 
gave  way  immediately  after  his  arrival,  and  he  was  incapacitated 
for  business.  The  Administration  at  once  summoned  Mr.  Galla- 


1826.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  613 

tin  to  Washington.  The  story  is  told  in  his  own  words,  in  a 
letter  written  on  the  12th  May,  1826 : 

"  You  will  have  seen  by  the  newspapers  that  I  was  appointed 
minister  to  England.  There  are  important  negotiations  now 
pending  between  that  country  and  the  United  States,  and  the 
state  of  Mr.  King's  health  was  such  that  he  had  requested  that, 
for  that  purpose,  an  extraordinary  minister  might  be  united  to 
him.  Under  those  circumstances  I  was  requested  and  agreed  to 
go  as  special  minister.  Before  my  nomination  was  sent  to  the 
Senate,  Mr.  King  resigned  altogether  his  place,  and  his  resigna- 
tion arrived  to  this  country  and  was  accepted.  The  President, 
wishing  to  entrust  me  alone  with  the  negotiation,  and  unwilling 
to  nominate  at  once  a  special  minister  for  that  purpose  and  an 
ordinary  minister  as  successor  to  Mr.  King,  requested  that  I 
should  go  in  the  latter  character,  but  with  powers  to  negotiate, 
and  with  the  understanding  that  I  should  be  at  liberty  to  return 
as  soon  as  the  negotiation  was  terminated,  in  same  manner  as  if 
I  had  been  appointed  on  a  special  mission.  With  that  express 
understanding  I  have  accepted.  But  my  nomination  has  been 
made  merely  as  successor  to  Mr.  King,  and  the  circumstances 
above  mentioned  are  not  publicly  known.  I  now  mention  them 
to  you  in  confidence  in  order  to  remove  your  apprehension  of 
another  long  absence.  This  cannot  last  longer  than  a  twelve- 
month." 

The  President  appears  to  have  intended  that  Mr.  Gallatin 
should  have  ample  discretionary  power  to  act  according  to  his 
best  judgment  in  the  negotiation ;  but  when  the  instructions 
arrived,  whether  Mr.  Clay  was  not  inclined  to  allow  such  lati- 
tude, or  whether  Mr.  Adams's  ideas  of  discretionary  power 
were  different  from  Mr.  Gallatin's,  the  latter  found  his  position 
not  satisfactory,  and  before  sailing  he  wrote  both  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  to  Mr.  Clay  letters  of  warm  remonstrance,  with  sug- 
gestions of  the  changes  needed  to  allow  of  freer  action  on  his 
part.  This  done,  he  took  his  departure  from  New  York,  on  July 
1,  1826,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daughter,  and  arrived  in 
London  on  the  7th  August. 

The  negotiation  now  to  take  place  was  probably  the  most 
complicated  and  arduous  ever  trusted  by  the  United  States  gov- 


LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1826. 

ernment  in  the  hands  of  a  single  agent.  It  embraced  not  only 
those  commercial  questions  which  had  been  so  often  and  so  fruit- 
lessly discussed,  and  which  involved  the  whole  system  of  British 
colonial  and  navigation  laws,  but  also  the  troublesome  disputes 
of  boundary  on  our  extreme  north-eastern  and  north-western 
frontier,  in  Maine  and  Oregon ;  the  settlement  of  a  long  out- 
standing claim  for  slaves  carried  away  by  British  troops  in  con- 
travention of  the  First  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent ;  and  the 
continuance  of  the  commercial  convention  negotiated  by  Mr. 
Gallatin  in  1815  and  extended  in  1818  for  ten  years  by  him  and 
Mr.  Rush.  All  the  principal  notes  and  despatches  which  record 
from  day  to  day  the  progress  of  the  various  negotiations  have 
been  published,  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  great  collection  of 
American  State  Papers;  to  them,  students  must  refer  for  details, 
which  belong  to  the  region  of  history  rather  than  to  biography ; 
here  it  is  enough  to  describe  some  of  the  leading  points  of  the 
situation  and  to  give  some  slight  idea  of  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Gallatin  dealt  with  his  difficulties. 

Of  these  difficulties  perhaps  the  greatest  was  that  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  was  no  longer  head  of  the  Foreign  Office.  Lord  Castle- 
reagh's  political  sins  may  have  been  many  and  dark,  but  towards 
the  United  States  he  was  a  wise  and  fair  man.  No  one  asked 
or  expected  friendship  from  a  British  minister  of  that  day ;  all 
that  America  wished  was  to  be  treated  by  the  English  govern- 
ment with  some  degree  of  respect.  Lord  Castlereagh  humored 
this  weakness ;  his  manners  and  his  temper  were  excellent ;  his 
commercial  views  were  much  in  advance  of  his  time;  he  con- 
ceded with  grace,  and  his  refusals  left  no  sting.  When  in  1822 
he  put  an  end  to  his  own  career,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  Foreign 
Office  by  George  Canning,  doubtless  a  greater  man,  but  one 
whose  temper  was  not  gentle  towards  opposition,  and  whose  old 
triumphs  over  embargo  and  non-intercourse  had  not  left  upon 
his  imagination  any  profound  respect  for  American  character. 
Mr.  Canning  liked  brilliant  and  aggressive  statesmanship.  He 
was  not  inclined  to  admit  the  new  doctrines  which  had  been  an- 
nounced by  President  Monroe  in  regard  to  the  future  exclusion 
of  Europe  from  America ;  he  felt  that  the  power  of  the  United 
States  was  a  danger  and  a  threat  to  England,  and  he  would  have 


1826.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  615 

been  glad  to  strike  out  some  new  path  which  should  relieve 
the  commerce  of  England  from  its  increasing  dependence  on 
America.  Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  very  moment 
which  Mr.  Canning  chose  for  experimenting  on  this  subject  was 
the  moment  when  Gallatin  was  on  his  way  to  England  in  the 
summer  of  1826.  The  object  which  he  selected  for  experiment 
was  the  West  India  trade. 

As  has  been  already  shown,  the  British  government  both  in 
1815  and  in  1818  had  declined  to  accept  the  American  propo- 
sitions on  this  subject.  The  trade  between  the  United  States 
and  the  West  Indies  was  therefore  left  to  be  regulated  by  legis- 
lation as  suited  the  interests  of  the  parties.  In  proportion  as 
England  opened  her  colonial  ports  to  American  vessels,  Congress 
relaxed  the  severity  of  its  navigation  law,  and,  in  spite  of  inces- 
sant dispute  about  details,  this  process  went  on  with  favorable 
results  as  fast  as  public  opinion  in  England  would  allow.  There 
was  only  one  drawback  to  the  policy.  In  the  multiplication  of 
restrictive  and  retaliatory  laws  the  intercourse  became  so  embar- 
rassed that  no  man  could  pretend  to  say  what  was  and  what  was 
not  permitted  or  forbidden. 

In  1825  Parliament  had  undertaken  a  general  revision  of  the 
colonial  and  navigation  system,  and  several  laws  were  adopted 
by  which  considerable  changes  had  been  made  and  liberal  privi- 
leges granted  to  foreign  nations  on  certain  conditions.  So  far  as 
applied  to  the  United  States,  the  condition  was  that  she  should 
place  British  shipping  on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nation. 

The  laws  were  intricate  and  impossible  to  understand  without 
authoritative  explanation.  Mr.  Clay  and  the  committees  of  Con- 
gress considered  the  subject  with  care.  The  result  was  a  decision 
to  attempt  nothing  by  way  of  legislation,  but  to  give  Mr.  Galla- 
tin authority  to  make  such  concessions  as  would  probably  secure 
a  satisfactory  arrangement  by  treaty.  With  these  powers  in  his 
hand,  not  doubting  that  at  length  this  annoying  contest  would 
be  closed,  Mr.  Gallatin  landed  in  England,  and  was  met  by  the 
announcement  that  the  British  government,  in  consequence  of  the 
failure  of  Congress  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment of  July  5, 1825,  had  withdrawn  the  privileges  conferred 
by  that  act ;  had  prohibited,  by  order  in  council,  all  intercourse 


616  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1826. 

in  American  vessels  between  the  British  West  Indies  and  the 
United  States ;  and  refused  even  to  discuss  the  subject  further. 

In  a  small  way  this  proceeding  was  only  a  repetition  of  Mr. 
Canning's  abrupt  rupture  of  negotiation  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Monroe's  unratified  treaty  twenty  years  before.  Orders  in  coun- 
cil had  a  peculiarly  irritating  meaning  to  American  ears,  and 
any  negotiator  would  have  had  some  excuse  for  losing  his  temper 
in  such  a  case,  but  it  must  be  agreed  that  on  this  occasion  the 
American  government  in  all  its  branches  appeared  with  dignity 
and  composure.  Mr.  Gallatin's  notes  were  excellent  in  tone, 
forbearing  in  temper,  and  conclusive  in  argument;  Mr.  Clay 
was  not  less  quiet  and  temperate.  Between  the  two  Mr.  Canning 
did  not  appear  equally  well.  He  resorted  to  what  was  little 
better  than  hair-splitting  on  the  meaning  of  the  words  "  right" 
and  "  claim"  as  applied  to  the  American  trade  with  the  colonies. 
"When  it  is  contended,"  said  he  in  a  note  of  November  13, 
1826,  "  that  the  '  right'  by  which  Great  Britain  prohibits  foreign 
nations  from  trading  with  her  colonies  is  the  same  '  right'  with 
that  by  which  she  might  (if  she  thought  fit)  prohibit  them  from 
trading  with  herself,  this  argument  (which  is  employed  by  the 
United  States  alone)  implies  that  the  special  prohibition  is  a 
grievance  to  the  United  States,  if  not  of  the  same  amount,  of 
the  same  kind,  as  the  general  prohibition  would  be.  This  is  a 
doctrine  which  Great  Britain  explicitly  denies." 

In  short,  Mr.  Canning  was  determined  upon  making  one 
more  effort  to  save  the  colonial  system,  and  he  preferred  to  do 
it  in  a  way  that  would  be  remembered.  Possibly  his  policy 
was  sound ;  at  all  events  he  obtained  by  its  means  for  England  a 
very  degrading  apology  from  the  next  American  Administration, 
although  the  number  of  his  diplomatic  triumphs  over  America 
was  by  that  time  no  longer  a  matter  of  concern  to  him,  and  he  and 
his  ambition  were  then  things  of  the  past.  His  motives,  in  this 
instance,  were  not  quite  clear ;  what  he  avowed  was  the  determi- 
nation to  ascertain  by  experiment  whether  the  West  Indies  could 
be  made  independent  of  the  United  States  by  opening  the  colo- 
nial trade  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world  and  prohibiting  it  to  the 
United  States  alone.  In  the  face  of  this  attempt  the  American 
government  had  only  one  course  to  pursue :  it  must  acquiesce  and 


1820.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  617 

resume  its  retaliatory  prohibition.  This  was  accordingly  done, 
without  irritating  language,  and  in  excellent  temper  and  taste. 
In  regard  to  this  branch  of  his  negotiation,  Mr.  Gal  latin's  task 
therefore  became  simple;  he  had  merely  to  obtain  from  the 
British  government  a  distinct  avowal  of  its  determination  to 
maintain  this  new  policy  against  a  direct  offer  of  negotiation. 
He  reserved  this  step  until  the  very  close  of  his  mission,  and 
his  last  words  to  Earl  Dudley  on  the  subject  are  worth  quoting : 

"  The  right  of  Great  Britain  to  regulate  the  intercourse  with 
her  colonies  is  not  questioned,  and  it  is  not  usual  for  nations  to 
make  any  great  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  asserting  abstract  prin- 
ciples which  are  not  contested.  She  is  undoubtedly  the  only 
proper  judge  of  what  should  be  her  commercial  policy.  The 
undersigned  has  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  discover 
what  actual  advantages  she  derives  from  the  measures  in  which 
she  perseveres  in  regard  to  the  colonial  intercourse.  He  has  ap- 
prehended that  considerations  foreign  to  the  question  might  con- 
tinue to  oppose  obstacles  to  a  proper  understanding.  Nothing 
has  been  omitted  to  remove  those  which  might  have  arisen  from 
misconceptions  of  the  views  and  proceedings  of  the  American 
government.  It  is  gratifying  to  have  received  assurances  that 
the  decision  of  Great  Britain  was  not  influenced  by  any  un- 
friendly feelings  towards  the  United  States.  Their  sentiments 
for  Great  Britain  are  those  of  amity  and  good -will ;  and  their 
government  is  animated  by  a  sincere  desire  to  improve  and 
strengthen  the  friendly  relations  of  the  two  countries." 

This  sudden  and  unexpected  blow,  which  instantly  put  an  end 
to  the  most  hopeful  branch  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  intended  negotia- 
tion, had  a  very  mischievous  effect  upon  the  negotiation  as  a 
whole ;  practically  and  for  the  moment  it  annulled  all  his  in- 
structions. He  had  to  act  for  himself,  and  he  was  much  per- 
plexed to  form  any  theory  of  British  motives  which  would  serve 
to  guide  his  course.  He  attempted  to  look  at  the  matter  from 
the  British  point  of  view,  and  wrote  his  first  impressions  to  Mr. 
Clay  on  the  22d  September,  1826  : 

"  On  three  points  we  were  perhaps  vulnerable.  1.  The  delay 
in  renewing  the  negotiation.  2.  The  omission  of  having  revoked 
the  restriction  on  the  indirect  intercourse  when  that  of  Great 


618  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIK  1826. 

Britain  had  ceased.  3.  Too  long  an  adherence  to  the  opposition 
to  her  right  of  laying  protecting  duties.  This  might  have  been 
given  up  as  soon  as  the  Act  of  1825  had  passed.  These  are  the 
causes  assigned  for  the  late  measures  adopted  towards  the  United 
States  on  that  subject,  and  they  have  undoubtedly  had  a  decisive 
effect  as  far  as  relates  to  the  order  in  council,  assisted  as  they 
were  by  the  belief  that  our  object  was  to  compel  this  country  to 
regulate  the  trade  upon  our  own  terms.  But  even  this  will  not 
account  for  the  refusal  to  negotiate  and  the  apparent  determina- 
tion to  exclude  us  altogether  hereafter  from  a  participation  in  the 
trade  of  the  colonies.  There  is  certainly  an  alteration  in  the 
disposition  of  this  government  since  the  year  1818,  when  I  was 
last  here.  Lord  Castlereagh  and  Mr.  Robinson  had  it  more  at 
heart  to  cherish  friendly  relations  than  Mr.  Canning  and  Mr. 
Huskisson.  The  difference  may,  however,  be  in  the  times  rather 
than  in  the  men.  Treated  in  general  with  considerable  arrogance 
till  the  last  war,  with  great  attention,  if  not  respect,  during  the 
years  that  followed  it,  the  United  States  are  now  an  object  of 
jealousy;  and  a  policy  founded  on  that  feeling  has  been  avowed."  * 
The  first  part  of  the  above  paragraph,  down  to  the  words 
"  upon  our  own  terms,"  was  afterwards  paraphrased  by  Mr.  Van 
Buren  as  the  ground  of  his  celebrated  deprecation  to  Great 
Britain,  when  giving  his  instructions,  as  Secretary  of  State,  to 
Mr.  McLane,  as  Minister  to  England.  This  fact  was  discovered 
by  Mr.  Benton,  who  has,  in  his  "  Thirty  Years'  View," 2  printed 
that  portion  of  the  above  despatch  of  22d  September,  1826,  at 
the  same  time  judiciously  omitting  the  remainder,  as  had  been 
done  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  himself.  This  is  not  the  place  for 
making  any  comment  either  upon  Mr.  Van  Buren's  statesman- 
ship or  Mr.  Benton's  merits  as  a  historian ;  but  it  is  proper  to 
point  out  that  nothing  in  Mr.  Gallatin's  despatch  could  honestly 
be  made  to  support  the  credit  of  either  the  one  or  the  other.3 


1  See  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  324.  2  Vol.  i.  p.  216. 

»  The  objectionable  passages  in  Mr.  Van  Buren 's  instructions  to  Mr. 
McLane  were  the  following : 

"  In  reviewing  the  events  which  have  preceded  and  more  or  less  con- 
tributed to  a  result  so  much  to  be  regretted,  there  will  be  found  three 
grounds  upon  which  we  are  most  assailable.  1st.  In  our  too  long  and  too 


3826.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  619 

But  Mr.  Gallatin's  remarks  of  September  22  were  written 
before  receiving  the  explanations  of  his  own  government,  and 
they  did  not  express  a  matured  opinion.  He  was  greatly  per- 

tenaciously  resisting  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  impose  protecting  duties 
in  her  colonies.  2d.  In  not  relieving  her  vessels  from  the  restriction  of  re- 
turning direct  from  the  United  States,  after  permission  had  been  given  by 
Great  Britain  to  our  vessels  to  clear  out  from  the  colonies  to  any  other  than 
a  British  port ;  and,  3d.  In  omitting  to  accept  the  terms  offered  by  the  Act 
of  Parliament  of  July,  1825,  after  the  subject  had  been  brought  before  Con- 
gress and  deliberately  acted  upon  by  our  government.  It  is,  without  doubt, 
to  the  combined  operation  of  these  (three)  causes  that  we  are  to  attribute 
the  British  interdict;  you  will  therefore  see  the  propriety  of  possessing 
yourself  fully  of  all  the  explanatory  and  mitigating  circumstances  connected 
with  them,  that  you  may  be  able  to  obviate,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  un- 
favorable impression  which  they  have  produced. 

"  The  opportunities  which  you  have  derived  from  a  participation  in  our 
public  counsels,  as  well  as  other  sources  of  information,  will  enable  you  to 
speak  with  confidence  (as  far  as  you  may  deem  it  proper  and  useful  so  to  do) 
of  the  respective  parts  taken  by  those  to  whom  the  administration  of  this 
government  is  now  committed,  in  relation  to  the  course  heretofore  pursued 
upon  the  subject  of  the  colonial  trade.  Their  views  upon  that  point  have 
been  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  counsels  by 
which  your  conduct  is  now  directed  are  the  result  of  the  judgment  expressed 
by  the  only  earthly  tribunal  to  which  the  late  Administration  was  amenable 
for  its  acts.  It  should  be  sufficient  that  the  claims  set  up  by  them,  and 
which  caused  the  interruption  of  the  trade  in  question,  have  been  explicitly 
abandoned  by  those  who.  first  asserted  them,  and  are  not  revived  by  their 
successors.  If  Great  Britain  deems  it  adverse  to  her  interests  to  allow  us 
to  participate  in  the  trade  with  her  colonies,  and  finds  nothing  in  the  exten- 
sion of  it  to  others  to  induce  her  to  apply  the  same  rule  to  us,  she  will,  we 
hope,  be  sensible  of  the  propriety  of  placing  her  refusal  on  those  grounds. 
To  set  up  the  acts  of  the  late  Administration  as  the  cause  of  forfeiture  of 
privileges  which  would  otherwise  be  extended  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  would,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  unjust  in  itself,  and  could 
not  fail  to  excite  their  deepest  sensibility.  The  tone  of  feeling  which  a 
course  so  unwise  and  untenable  is  calculated  to  produce  would  doubtless  be 
greatly  aggravated  by  the  consciousness  that  Great  Britain  has,  by  order  in 
council,  opened  her  colonial  ports  to  Russia  and  France,  notwithstanding  a 
similar  omission  on  their  part  to  accept  the  terms  offered  by  the  Act  of 
July,  1825.  You  cannot  press  this  view  of  the  subject  too  earnestly  upon 
the  consideration  of  the  British  ministry.  It  has  bearings  and  relations 
that  reach  beyond  the  immediate  question  under  discussion. 

11 1  will  add  nothing  as  to  the  impropriety  of  suffering  any  feelings  that 
find  their  origin  in  the  past  pretensions  of  this  government  to  have  an 
adverse  influence  upon  the  present  conduct  of  Great  Britain." 


620  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  AT  IN.  1826. 

plexed  to  understand  the  real  motives  of  Mr.  Canning.  On 
the  18th  October,  not  one  month  after  this  despatch  to  Mr.  Clay, 
he  wrote  a  private  letter  to  the  President,  giving  some  interest- 
ing information  he  had  obtained  on  a  short  visit  to  Paris.1  In 
this  letter  he  mentioned  having  received  information  from  a 
respectable  quarter  that  "  a  few  days  before  the  publication  of 
the  order  in  council  of  July  last,  one  of  the  King's  ministers 
had  complained  to  a  confidential  friend  of  the  general  tone  of 
the  American  diplomacy  towards  England,  still  more  as  respected 
manner  than  matter,  and  added  that  it  was  time  to  show  that 
this  was  felt  and  resented."  Puzzled  to  know  what  could  have 
caused  such  displeasure,  Mr.  Gallatin  adds  that  he  had  looked 
through  all  the  published  correspondence  and  could  find  nothing 
with  which  the  British  government  could  have  taken  offence, 
unless  it  were  Mr.  Adams's  instructions  to  Mr.  Rush,  with  which 
that  government  had  no  concern.  Even  in  this  supposition,  how- 
ever, it  soon  appeared  that  he  was  mistaken ;  for  on  the  27th 
November  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Clay  that  he  had  further  ascertained 
the  name  of  the  "  King's  minister"  before  mentioned.  It  was 
no  less  a  person  than  Mr.  Canning  himself;  he  had  said  that 
the  language  used  by  America  was  almost  tantamount  to  a 
declaration  of  war;  he  had  used  the  same  language  to  Mr. 
Gallatin,  and  his  grievance  was  not  at  all  against  the  President 
or  his  officers,  but  against  a  certain  Mr.  Baylies,  a  member  of 
Congress  from  Massachusetts,  who,  as  chairman  of  a  committee, 
had  made  a  belligerent  report  to  the  House,  which  had  never 
even  been  taken  into  consideration.  "  It  is  most  undoubtedly 
that  report  which  has  given  great  offence,  and  I  am  apt  to  think 
that,  though  not  the  remote,  or  only,  it  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  order  in  council." 

Feeling  his  way  in  this  tentative  manner,  always  the  most 
difficult  task  of  a  new  minister  in  critical  times,  Mr.  Gallatin 
approached  the  other  subjects  of  negotiation.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  wrote  to  the  President,  sketching  the  state  of  each 
disputed  point  and  earnestly  pressing  for  instructions.  This 
letter  closes  with  the  following  unusually  severe  remarks  : 

1  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  327. 


1827.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  621 

"Although  all  my  faculties  are  exerted,  and  it  is  far  from 
being  the  first  time,  in  trying  to  accommodate  differences  and  to 
remove  causes  of  rupture,  it  is  impossible  for  me  not  to  see  and 
feel  the  temper  that  prevails  here  towards  us.  It  is  perceptible 
in  every  quarter  and  on  every  occasion,  quite  changed  from  what 
it  was  in  1815-1821 ;  nearly  as  bad  as  before  the  last  war,  only 
they  hate  more  and  despise  less,  though  they  still  affect  to  con- 
ceal hatred  under  the  appearance  of  contempt.  I  would  not 
say  this  to  any  but  to  you  and  your  confidential  advisers,  and  I 
say  it  not  in  order  to  excite  corresponding  feelings,  but  because 
I  think  that  we  must  look  forward  and  make  those  gradual 
preparations  which  will  make  us  ready  for  any  emergency,  and 
which  may  be  sufficient  to  preserve  us  from  the  apprehended 
danger.  ...  I  must  say,  after  my  remarks  on  the  temper  here, 
that  I  have  been  personally  treated  with  great,  by  Mr.  Canning 
with  marked,  civility." 

Thus  difficulties  thickened  round  him  as  he  advanced.  The 
West  India  negotiation  could  not  take  place ;  there  was  no  hope 
for  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence ;  there  was  no  chance  of 
fixing  a  definitive  boundary  in  Oregon ;  even  to  make  the  pre- 
liminary arrangements  for  compromising  the  dispute  about  the 
Maine  boundary  would  be  laborious  and  arduous ;  the  only  point 
settled  was  that  of  payment  in  a  gross  sum  for  captured  slaves. 


ALBERT   GALLATIN   TO   JAMES   GALLATIN. 

LONDON,  13th  January,  1827. 

.  .  .  We  continue  all  well,  and  I  anticipate  nothing  that  can 
prevent  our  taking  our  departure  about  the  middle  of  June. 
All  that  I  can  possibly  do  here  must  be  terminated  by  that  time, 
provided  the  instructions  I  have  asked  on  some  points  be  such 
as  not  to  render  another  reference  to  Washington  necessary.  I 
have  written  to  the  Department  of  State  accordingly,  and  asked 
for  leave  to  return  by  that  time,  to  which  I  presume  no  objection 
will  be  made,  as  it  was  explicitly  understood  that  I  should  re- 
main no  longer  than  the  pending  negotiations  required,  and  Mr. 
Adams's  conjecture  that  they  would  occupy  about  twelve  months 
is  confirmed.  I  have  written  to  him  a  private  letter  by  the  last 


622  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1827. 

packet,  most  earnestly  entreating  him  both  to  direct  the  necessary 
instructions  to  be  sent  and  to  grant  me  leave  to  return.  As  you 
know  him,  and  he  has  always  shown  kindness  to  you,  I  wish 
you  would  join  your  solicitations  to  mine,  either  in  writing  or 
by  waiting  in  person  on  him.  There  are  many  things  which 
you  may  say  or  explain  showing  the  importance  of  my  return 
to  my  family.  As  to  myself,  whether  it  is  the  result  of  age 
(you  know  that  in  a  fortnight  I  will  enter  my  sixty-seventh 
year)  or  increased  anxiety  about  you  and  your  brother,  my  mind 
is  enervated,  and  I  feel  that  a  longer  absence  would  have  a  most 
serious  effect  upon  me.  As  it  is,  though  my  health  is  tolerable, 
I  hardly  dare  to  hope  that  I  will  see  you  again.  Nor  will  my 
return  be  any  public  loss.  The  United  States  want  here  a  man 
of  considerable  talent,  but  he  must  be  younger  than  I  am  and 
capable  of  going  through  great  labor  with  more  facility  than  I 
now  possess.  This  is  at  all  times  the  most  laborious  foreign 
mission.  It  is  at  this  time,  owing  to  the  negotiations,  one  of 
the  most  laborious  public  offices.  I  cannot  work  neither  as  long 
nor  do  as  much  work  in  the  same  time  as  formerly.  To  think 
and  to  write,  to  see  the  true  state  of  the  question,  and  to  state  it, 
not  with  eloquence,  but  with  perspicuity,  all  that  formerly  was 
done  instantaneously  and  with  ease  is  now  attended  with  labor, 
requires  time,  and  is  not  performed  to  my  satisfaction.  I  believe 
that  Mr.  Lawrence  will  prove  a  useful  public  servant.  Yet  I 
have  missed  and  do  miss  your  assistance  every  day.  I  did  not 
like  French  diplomacy ;  I  cannot  say  that  I  admire  that  of  this 
country.  Some  of  the  French  statesmen  occasionally  say  what 
is  not  true  (cordon  sanitaire) ;  here  they  conceal  the  truth.  The 
temper  also  towards  us  is  bad.  After  all,  though  it  is  necessary 
to  argue  well,  you  may  argue  forever  in  vain ;  strength  and  the 
opinion  of  your  strength  are  the  only  efficient  weapons.  We 
must  either  shut  ourselves  in  our  shell,  as  was  attempted  during 
the  Jefferson  policy,  and  I  might  say  mine,  or  we  must  support 
our  rights  and  pretensions  by  assuming  at  home  a  different  atti- 
tude. I  think  that  we  are  now  sufficiently  numerous  and  rich 
for  that  purpose,  and  that  with  skill  our  resources  would  be 
found  adequate.  But  that  is  a  subject  requiring  more  discussion 
than  can  be  encompassed  in  a  letter.  I  fear  that  you  will  find 


1827.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  623 

this  written  in  a  too  desponding  mood ;  and  I  do  not  wish  you 
to  despond  as  relates  to  yourself.  .  .  .  What  you  may,  or  rather 
ought  to,  do  about  our  lands,  it  belongs  to  you  to  decide.  They 
are  yours  and  Albert's,  and  you  must  consider  them  as  such, 
keep  or  sacrifice,  since  there  is  no  chance  of  a  favorable  sale  at 
present,  as  you  shall  think  best.  It  is  a  troublesome  and  unpro- 
ductive property,  which  has  plagued  me  all  my  life.  I  could  not 
have  vested  my  patrimony  in  a  more  unprofitable  manner.  .  .  . 


ALBERT   GALLATIN   TO   JAMES  GALLATIN. 

LONDON,  29th  January,  1827. 

...  I  do  not  understand  [in  your  letter]  what  relates  to  Mr. 
Clay's  letter  and  mine  on  colonial  intercourse,  and  why  they 
should  be  brought  in  competition.  They  were  written  for  dif- 
ferent purposes,  mine  in  defence  of  the  general  ground  taken  by 
America  and  of  her  claims  on  that  subject,  addressed,  too,  to  Mr. 
Canning,  and  on  that  account  more  guarded  and  cautious ;  that 
of  Mr.  Clay  principally  in  defence  of  the  conduct  of  the  Admin- 
istration on  the  subject  since  he  came  in  office,  and  written 
without  apprehension  that  it  might  be  answered.  I  was  but 
indifferently  satisfied  with  my  own  or  with  the  cause  I  had 
to  contend  for ;  and  that  of  Mr.  Clay,  though  too  long  and  too 
hastily  written,  was  better  than  I  had  expected.  He  has  great 
talent,  and  has  vastly  improved  since  1814.  His  fault  is  that  he 
is  devoured  with  ambition,  and  in  all  his  acts  never  can  detach 
himself  and  their  effect  on  his  popularity  from  the  subject  on 
which  he  is  called  to  act.  But  whilst  serving  in  his  Department 
it  is  unpleasant  to  be  placed  in  opposition  to  him. 

J.    Q.  ADAMS   TO   GALLATIN.i 

WASHINGTON,  20th  March,  1827. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  from  you  several  very  kind  and 
friendly  letters,  for  which  the  unremitted  pressure  of  public 
business  during  the  session  of  Congress  has  not  permitted  me  to 

i  Gallatin's  Writings,  ii.  364. 


624  LIFE    OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1827. 

make  the  due  return  of  acknowledgment.  The  march  of  time, 
which  stays  not  for  the  convenience  or  the  humors  of  men,  has 
closed  the  existence  of  that  body  for  the  present,  and  they  have 
left  our  relations  with  Great  Britain  precisely  where  they  were. 

The  sudden  and  unexpected  determination  of  the  British 
government  to  break  off  all  negotiation  concerning  the  colonial 
trade,  and  the  contemporaneous  measure  of  interdicting  the  ves- 
sels of  the  United  States  from  all  their  ports  in  the  West  Indies, 
as  well  as  many  others,  has  taken  us  so  much  by  surprise  that  a 
single  short  session  of  Congress  has  not  been  sufficient  to  mature 
the  system  by  which  we  may  most  effectively  meet  this  new 
position  assumed  by  the  colonial  monopoly  of  Great  Britain.  .  .  . 

From  the  state  of  your  negotiation  upon  the  other  subjects  of 
interest  in  discussion  between  the  two  governments,  as  exhibited 
in  your  latest  despatches  and  letters,  there  is  little  encouragement 
to  expect  a  satisfactory  result  regarding  them.  There  are  diffi- 
culties in  the  questions  themselves, — difficulties  still  more  serious 
in  the  exorbitant  pretensions  of  Great  Britain  upon  every  point, 
— difficulties,  to  all  appearances,  insuperable  in  the  temper  which 
Great  Britain  now  brings  into  the  management  of  the  contro- 
versy. For  the  causes  of  this  present  soreness  of  feeling  we  must 
doubtless  look  deeper  than  to  the  report  of  a  committee  of  our 
House  of  Representatives  or  to  the  assertion  by  the  late  President 
that  the  American  continents  were  no  more  subject  to  future 
colonization  from  Europe.  As  the  assertion  of  this  principle  is 
an  attitude  which  the  American  hemisphere'  must  assume,  it  is 
one  which  no  European  has  the  right  to  question ;  and  if  the 
inference  drawn  from  it  of  danger  to  existing  colonies  has  any 
foundation,  it  can  only  be  on  the  contingency  of  a  war,  which 
we  shall  by  all  possible  means  avoid.  As  to  the  report  of  Mr. 
Baylies,  if  Mr.  Canning  has  not  enough  upon  his  hands  to  soothe 
the  feelings  of  foreign  nations  for  what  he  says  in  Parliament 
himself,  he  would  think  it  passing  strange  to  be  called  to  account 
for  offences  of  that  character  committed  by  Mr.  Brougham  or 
Mr.  Hume.  He  surely  cannot  be  so  ill  informed  of  the  state  of 
things  existing  here  as  not  to  know  that  Mr.  Baylies  is  not  the 
man  by  whom  the  sentiments  or  opinions  of  this  or  of  the  last 
Administration  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  were  or 


1827.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  625 

are  wont  to  be  expressed.  The  origin,  rise,  and  progress  of  this 
"Oregon  Territory  Committee/7  of  which  Mr.  Baylies  became 
at  last  the  chairman,  is  perhaps  not  known  even  to  you ;  but  you 
may  remember  it  was  the  engine  by  means  of  which  Mr.  Jona- 
than Russell's  famous  duplicate  letter  was  brought  before  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  nation,  and  that  incident  will 
give  you  a  clue  to  the  real  purposes  for  which  that  committee  was 
raised  and  to  the  spirit  manifested  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Baylies. 

Upon  the  whole,  if  the  same  inflexible  disposition  which  you 
have  found  prevailing  upon  the  subject  of  the  colonial  trade,  and 
of  which  indications  so  distinct  have  been  given  upon  the  bound- 
ary questions  and  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  should 
continue  unabated,  our  last  resource  must  be  to  agree  upon  the 
renewal  for  ten  years  of  the  Convention  of  1818.  This  would 
probably  now  obtain  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  for 
ratification.  On  the  colonial  trade  question  the  opposition  here 
have  taken  the  British  side,  and  their  bill  in  the  Senate  was  con- 
cession unqualified  but  by  a  deceptive  show  of  future  resistance. 
But  you  must  not  conclude  that  the  same  spirit  would  be  ex- 
tended to  anything  in  the  shape  of  concession  which  you  might 
send  to  us  in  a  treaty.  One  inch  of  ground  yielded  on  the  north- 
west coast, — one  step  backward  from  the  claim  to  the  navigation 
of  the  St.  Lawrence, — one  hair's-breadth  of  compromise  upon 
the  article  of  impressment,  would  be  certain  to  meet  the  repro- 
bation of  the  Senate.  In  this  temper  of  the  parties,  all  we  can 
hope  to  accomplish  will  be  to  adjourn  controversies  which  we 
cannot  adjust,  and  say  to  Britain,  as  the  Abbe"  Bernis  said  to 
Cardinal  Fleuri :  Monseigneur,  j'attendrai. 

Your  instructions  will  be  forwarded  in  season  that  you  may 
be  subjected  to  no  delay  in  bringing  the  negotiation  to  an  issue ; 
but  I  regret  exceedingly  the  loss  to  the  public  of  your  continued 
services.  The  political  and  commercial  system  of  Great  Britain 
is  undergoing  great  changes.  It  will  certainly  not  stop  at  the 
stage  where  it  now  stands.  The  interdicting  order  in  council  of 
last  July  itself  has  the  air  of  a  start  backwards  by  Mr.  Huskis- 
son  from  his  own  system  to  the  old  navigation  laws.  His  whole 
system  is  experimental  against  deep-rooted  prejudice  and  a  de- 
lusion of  past  experience.  I  could  earnestly  have  wished  that  it 

40 


626  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GAL  LATIN.  1827. 

might  have  been  consistent  with  your  views  to  remain  a  year  or 
two  longer  in  England,  and  I  should  have  indulged  a  hope  that 
in  the  course  of  that  time  some  turn  in  the  tide  of  aifairs  might 
have  occurred  which  would  have  enabled  us,  with  your  concilia- 
tory management  of  debatable  concerns,  to  place  our  relations 
with  Great  Britain  upon  a  more  stable  and  friendly  foundation. 

As  though  to  annoy  Mr.  Gallatin  with  indefinite  difficulties 
and  delays,  a  prolonged  Cabinet  crisis  now  occurred.  Lord 
Liverpool  died  suddenly  in  February,  1827,  and  the  King  had 
to  decide  whether  his  authority  was  sufficient  to  sustain  Mr. 
Canning  as  Prime  Minister  against  the  personal  isolation  in  which 
the  temper,  rather  than  the  social  position,  of  that  remarkable 
man  placed  him.  On  the  28th  April,  Mr.  Gallatin  wrote  to 
Mr.  Clay:  "At  the  dinner  of  the  23d,  Mr.  Canning  came  near 
Baron  Humboldt  and  me,  and  told  us, ( You  see  that  the  opinion 
universally  entertained  abroad,  and  very  generally  indeed  in 
England,  that  this  government  is  an  Aristocracy,  is  not  true. 
It  is,'  said  he,  emphatically,  'a  Monarchy.  The  Whigs  had 
found  it  out  in  1784,  when  they  tried  to  oppose  the  King's  pre- 
rogative of  choosing  his  Prime  Minister.  The  Tories  have  now 
repeated  the  same  experiment,  and  with  no  greater  success/  He 
appears  certainly  very  confident,  and  speaks  of  any  intended 
opposition  in  Parliament  as  if  he  had  no  fear  of  it."  Then 
Mr.  Huskisson,  who  was  the  chief  commissioner  on  the  English 
side,  was  forced  to  go  abroad  for  his  health.  Mr.  Grant  took 
Mr.  Huskisson's  place.  Under  the  steady  influence  of  Mr. 
Gallatin's  conciliatory  course  and  of  his  strong  arguments,  the 
British  Ministry,  pressed  as  they  were  by  absorbing  contests  at 
home,  tended  towards  a  better  disposition,  and,  although  they 
still  adhered  with  determination  to  those  points  upon  which  they 
had  committed  themselves,  they  proved  more  compliant  upon 
others.  This  tendency  was  rather  hastened  than  retarded  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Canning  in  August,  and  the  elevation  of  Lord 
Goderich  to  the  post  of  Prime  Minister.  The  tone  of  Mr. 
Gallatin's  letters  to  Mr.  Clay  became  more  cheerful.  On  the 
6th  August,  after  much  discussion,  a  treaty  was  signed  which 
continued  the  commercial  convention  of  1815  indefinitely,  leaving 


182T.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  627 

either  party  at  liberty  to  abrogate  it  at  twelve  months'  notice. 
On  the  same  day  another  convention  was  signed  by  which  the  joint 
use  of  the  disputed  Oregon  territory,  as  denned  in  the  3d  Article 
of  the  convention  of  1818,  was  also  indefinitely  continued,  sub- 
ject likewise  to  abrogation  at  twelve  months'  notice.  Finally, 
on  the  29th  September,  a  new  convention  was  signed  providing 
for  the  reference  of  the  disputed  Maine  boundary  to  a  friendly 
sovereign. 

This  accomplished,  Mr.  Gallatin  hastened  homewards,  and, 
after  a  passage  of  fifty-two  days,  arrived  in  New  York  on  the 
30th  November. 

J.  Q.  ADAMS   TO   GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  December  12,  1827. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  obliging  letter  from  New 
York,  and,  although  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you 
here,  I  know  not  that  any  material  public  interest  will  require 
your  presence.  Your  three  conventions  were  sent  yesterday  to 
the  Senate  for  their  consideration.  In  what  light  they  will  view 
them  I  cannot  yet  foresee.  I  wish  they  may  prove  as  satisfactory 
to  them  as  they  are  to  me. 

I  regret  exceedingly  for  the  public  interest  that  you  found 
yourself  under  the  necessity  of  coming  home.  At  the  time  of 
your  arrival  in  England,  although  I  do  not  believe  they  had  a 
deliberate  purpose  of  coming  to  a  rupture  with  us,  they  were 
undoubtedly  in  a  waspish  temper,  and  Mr.  Canning  had  deter- 
mined to  play  off  upon  us  one  of  his  flourishes  for  effect.  He 
had  been  laying  up  a  stock  of  resentments,  for  which  he  was 
hoping  to  expose  us  to  public  and  open  humiliation.  I  believe 
that  which  most  rankled  in  his  mind  was  the  disappointment  of 
the  slave-trade  convention,  though  he  said  perhaps  not  a  word  to 
you  about  it. 

But,  whatever  it  was,  your  convention  upon  the  slave  indem- 
nities first  turned  the  tide  of  feeling  and  soothed  irritations  on 
both  sides.  You  gained  an  ascendency  over  him  by  suffering 
him  to  fancy  himself  victorious  on  some  points,  by  the  forbear- 
ance to  expose  too  glaringly  his  absurdities,  and  his  position, 
from  the  time  of  Lord  Liverpool's  political  demise,  warned  him 


628  LIFE     OF     ALBERT    GALLATIK  1827. 

that  he  had  enemies  enough  upon  his  hands  without  seeking  this 
querelle  d'Allemand  with  us. 

Nothing  can  be  more  preposterous  than  their  obstinacy  upon 
this  colonial  trade  squabble;  and  you  had  not  set  your  foot  on 
board  ship  before  they  began  to  grow  sick  of  it.  A  hurricane 
had  already  burst  upon  the  island  of  St.  Kitts  and  the  Virgin 
Isles.  They  have  now  by  proclamation  opened  the  Bahama 
Islands,  for  vessels  in  ballast  to  go  and  take  salt  and  fruit,  and 
on  the  31st  of  October  Mr.  Grant  told  Mr.  Lawrence  that  he 
regretted  you  had  not  settled  this  affair  as  satisfactorily  as  the 
others.  Lord  Dudley  also  admires  the  great  ability  of  your  last 
note  on  the  subject.  These  are  among  the  indications  not  only 
that  their  experiment  of  supplying  their  islands  without  us  is 
failing,  but  that  they  begin  to  feel  it.  I  believe  had  you  stayed 
over  the  winter,  they  would  have  come  to  our  terms  upon  this 
affair  before  another  summer.  Whether  they  would  promote 
our  own  interest  so  well  as  the  present  condition  of  things, 
remains,  as  it  always  has  been,  a  more  doubtful  point  to  me. 

The  North-Eastern  boundary  question  is  far  otherwise  im- 
portant to  us  than  that  of  the  colonial  trade, — so  important  as 
to  give  me  the  deepest  concern.  I  hope  your  convention  will 
have  the  approbation  of  the  Senate,  and  that  the  sequel  will  be 
satisfactory  to  us.  We  shall  want  the  benefit  of  your  information 
and  of  your  advice. 

There  are  so  many  of  these  breakers  close  aboard  of  us  that 
I  have  lost  some  of  my  concern  for  the  distant  danger  of  im- 
pressment. Mr.  Canning  was  so  fond  of  creating  Avorlds  that, 
under  his  administration,  the  turn  of  a  straw  would  have  plunged 
Great  Britain  into  a  war  with  any  nation  upon  earth.  His 
successors  will  be  more  prudent,  and  I  hope  more  pacific.  If 
they  should  engage  in  a  war  to  which  we  shall  be  in  the  first  in- 
stance neutral,  I  doubt  whether  they  will  authorize  their  officers 
to  impress  beyond  their  own  territorial  jurisdiction.  I  would 
not  lose  any  opportunity  of  coming  to  an  arrangement  with  them 
to  abolish  this  odious  practice,  but  I  am  weary  of  renewing  with 
them  desperate  discussions  upon  it. 

Altogether,  if  your  conventions  are  ratified,  I  shall  indulge  a 
strong  hope  that  our  relations  with  Great  Britain  generally  will 


1828.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  629 

become  more  friendly  than  they  have  lately  been.  But  I  know 
only  that  I  shall  feel  most  sensibly  the  loss  of  your  presence  at 
London,  and  can  form  no  more  earnest  wish  than  that  your  suc- 
cessor may  acquire  the  same  influence  of  reason  and  good  temper 
which  you  did  exercise,  and  that  it  may  be  applied  with  as  salu- 
tary effect  to  the  future  discussions  between  the  two  governments. 
I  remain,  with  great  respect  and  attachment,  your  friend. 

With  this  letter  of  President  Adams  the  story  of  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  diplomatic  career  may  fitly  close.  Such  evidence  leaves 
nothing  to  be  said  in  regard  to  his  qualities  as  a  diplomate.  In 
that  career  he  stood  first  among  the  men  of  his  time.  He  never 
again  returned  to  Europe,  and  henceforward  his  public  life  may 
be  considered  as  ended. 

He  had,  however,  still  one  duty  to  perform.  The  President, 
unable  to  persuade  him  to  remain  in  London,  requested  him  to 
prepare  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  government  the  argu- 
ment in  regard  to  the  North-Eastern  boundary,  which  was  to  be 
submitted  to  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  as  arbitrator.  This 
excessively  tedious  and  laborious  duty  occupied  all  his  time  for 
the  next  two  years,  and  resulted  in  a  bulky  volume,  which  may 
be  found  among  our  public  documents.  While  preparing  it  he 
was  obliged  to  pass  a  portion  of  his  time  in  Washington,  where 
he  found  politics  less  and  less  to  his  taste.  The  election  of  1828 
terminated  the  long  sway  of  the  old  Republican  party,  and  if 
what  he  saw  about  him  had  not  convinced  Mr.  Gallatin  that  his 
opinions  and  methods  belonged  to  a  past  era,  instinct  must  have 
taught  him  that  his  career  and  that  of  his  party  had  best  close 
together. 

GALLATIN  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  16th  December,  1828. 

...  I  have  used  every  possible  endeavor  to  terminate  our 
business  earlier  than  the  day  on  which  it  must  necessarily  be 
concluded ;  I  have  attended  to  nothing  else,  and  owe  now  thirty 
and  more  visits,  yet  I  do  not  expect  to  have  done  before  the  1st 
of  January.  I  cannot  rise  early,  the  days  are  short,  the  details 
very  complex,  new  materials  coming  in  to  the  last  moment,  a 


630  LIFE     OF     ALBEET     GALLATIN.  1829. 

great  mass  of  papers  to  read,  selections  to  make,  several  tran- 
scribers and  draughtsmen  to  direct,  and,  independent  of  age,  the 
whole  much  retarded  by  my  being  obliged  to  abstain  from 
writing.  Yet,  though  I  have  not  worked  so  hard,  the  use  of  the 
pen  excepted,  since  I  was  in  the  Treasury,  I  continue  to  enjoy 
perfect  health.  .  .  .  Notwithstanding  their  triumphant  majority, 
the  prospect  of  the  conquering  party  is  not  very  flattering.  The 
object  which  alone  united  them  is  accomplished,  and  they  dare 
not  now  approach  the  tariff  or  any  other  measure  of  importance 
on  which  they  would  immediately  divide  and  break  off.  Nor  is 
there  any  man  around  whom  they  can  rally,  the  pretensions 
being  numerous  and  discordant.  The  state  of  politics  is  better 
in  reference  to  the  external  relations  of  the  country  than  during 
the  existence  of  the  Federal  and  Republican  parties ;  but  it  is 
truly  deplorable  with  respect  to  the  internal  concerns  of  the 
nation.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN   TO    BADOLLET. 

NEW  YORK,  March  26,  1829. 

I  duly  received,  my  dear  friend,  your  letter  of  10th  January 
last,  and  it  would  have  been  immediately  answered  had  not 
an  accident  deprived  me  of  the  use  of  my  right  hand.  Rest 
has  now  partly  restored  it;  but  I  am  compelled  to  employ 
generally  an  amanuensis,  and  to  write  myself  only  on  special 
occasions.  .  .  . 

I  hope  that,  with  your  moderate  wants,  you  find  yourself  now 
comparatively  at  ease.  After  much  anxiety,  I  find  that  our 
children  must  be  left  to  cut  their  own  way  and  to  provide  for 
themselves;  and  I  have  no  other  uneasiness  respecting  them 
than  so  far  as  concerns  their  health,  that  of  Albert  and  Frances 
being  extremely  delicate,  so  much  so,  indeed,  as  may  perhaps 
compel  me  to  change  once  more  my  place  of  residence  for  one 
more  southerly  and  favorable  to  their  lungs.  With  great  indo- 
lence and  an  anxious  wish  to  be  rooted  somewhere,  I  was  destined 
to  be  always  on  the  wing.  It  was  an  ill-contrived  plan  to  think 
that  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela,  where  I  was  perfectly  satis- 
fied to  live  and  die  in  retirement,  could  be  borne  by  the  female 
part  of  my  family  or  by  children  brought  up  at  Washington 


1829.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  631 

and  Paris,  and,  unfortunately  for  them,  in  an  artificial  situation 
which  has  produced  expectations  that  can  never  be  realized. 
Albert  was  the  only  one  who  was  happy,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
break  up  a  comfortable  establishment  and  to  attempt  a  new  one 
in  one  of  our  seaports  with  means  inadequate  to  our  support. 
Particular  circumstances  have  made  Baltimore,  which  was  my 
choice,  objectionable  in  some  respects ;  and  on  my  return  from 
England,  in  conformity  with  the  natural  wishes  of  my  wife,  whose 
respectable  mother,  aged  eighty-five,  is  still  alive,  I  settled  here. 
What  I  may  now  do  is  quite  uncertain.  To  Washington  I  must 
proceed  in  a  few  days  on  the  business  of  the  North-East  bound- 
ary, which  is  committed  to  my  care,  and  will  be  detained  there 
till  the  1st  of  July.  I  must  add  that  my  public  engagements 
in  relation  to  that  important  question  will  cease  with  the  end  of 
this  year. 

I  am  not  pleased  with  the  present  aspect  of  public  affairs, 
still  less  with  that  of  the  public  mind.  Perhaps  old  age  makes 
me  querulous.  I  care  little  what  party  and  who  is  in  power ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  now  and  for  the  last  eight  years  people 
and  leaders  have  been  much  less  anxious  about  the  public  service 
and  the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  performed  than  by  whom 
the  country  should  be  governed.  This  feeling  appears  to  rne  to 
be  growing ;  and  at  this  moment  every  movement  seems  already 
to  be  directed  towards  the  next  Presidential  election,  and  that 
not  on  account  of  any  preference  of  a  system  of  public  measures 
over  another,  but  solely  in  relation  to  persons,  or  at  best  to  sec- 
tional feelings.  Amongst  other  symptoms  displeasing  to  me,  I 
may  count  the  attempt  of  the  West,  and  particularly  of  your 
State,  to  claim  the  sovereignty  and  exclusive  right  to  the  public 
lands.  I  wish  they  did  of  right  belong  to  the  several  States 
and  not  to  the  United  States.  But  the  claim  is  contrary  to 
positive  compact  and  to  common  justice,  any  departure  from 
which,  either  in  our  domestic  or  external  policy,  is  the  most 
fatal  injury  that  can  be  inflicted  on  our  political  institutions,  on 
the  reputation  of  the  country,  and  indeed  on  the  preservation  of 
the  Union.  But  we  are  going  off  the  scene ;  I  think  that  we 
have  discharged  our  duties  honestly,  and  the  next  generation 
must  provide  for  itself.  .  .  . 


632  LIFE     OF    ALBERT     GALLATIN.  1829. 

For  one  moment,  however,  it  seemed  possible  that  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  might  again  be  employed  abroad.  The  King  of  the 
Netherlands  could  not  be  expected  to  arbitrate  without  assist- 
ance and  advice,  and  it  was  peculiarly  important  that  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  should  be  at  hand  for  that  purpose.  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
conscience  appears  to  have  been  somewhat  tender  on  the  subject 
of  Mr.  Gallatin  since  the  secret  manipulation  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency in  1824;  and  after  General  Jackson  had  been  chosen 
President  in  November,  1828,  and  events  had  marked  out  Mr. 
Van  Buren  as  highly  influential  with  him,  that  gentleman  seems 
to  have  intimated  that  he  considered  Mr.  Gallatin  to  have  claims 
upon  his  good-will.  Mr.  Gallatin's  eldest  son  was  then  eager  for 
a  diplomatic  position,  and  his  father  authorized  him  to  tell  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  and  later  wrote  himself  to  say,  that  he  would  accept 
the  mission  to  France,  if  offered  to  him,  although  he  was  not 
willing  to  return  to  England  or  even  to  be  Secretary  of  State. 
Unfortunately,  Mr.  Van  Buren  soon  found  that  he  had  no 
power  to  dispose  of  his  patronage  as  Secretary,  and  in  the  fright- 
ful chaos  which  followed  the  inauguration  of  General  Jackson 
the  old  servants  of  the  government  instantly  saw  that  new  prin- 
ciples and  new  practices  left  no  place  for  them  in  the  national 
service. 

GALLATIN   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

WASHINGTON,  2d  May,  1829. 

...  I  have  made  more  progress  this  week*  than  all  the  time 
since  my  arrival.  I  was  not  very  well,  and  felt  dispirited.  My 
cold  has  now  entirely  left  me,  and  I  can  see  as  through  a  vista 
the  end  of  my  labors.  .  .  .  After  next  week  most  of  the  writing 
will  be  over  and  my  hand  may  rest ;  but  there  will  be  correcting, 
altering,  collating  maps  and  evidence,  &c.  You  call  me  a  pack- 
horse,  but  I  am  used  to  it,  and  might,  as  relates  to  the  public, 
have  taken  for  my  motto,  Sic  vos  non  vobis.  ...  I  will  be  more 
than  delighted  to  see  Frances,  if  she  can  come.  ...  As  to  beaux, 
I  know  of  none  but  Van  Buren,  and  he  is,  I  think,  a  little  crest- 
fallen. .  .  . 

16th  May,  1829. 

...  I  have  this  day  finished  dictating  to  Albert  our  argu- 


1829.  DIPLOMACY.     1813-1829.  633 

ment, — two  hundred  pages  of  his  writing.  Mr.  Preble  promises 
to  return  the  whole  to  me  on  Monday  with  his  proposed  emen- 
dations, which  will  not  be  either  long  or  important ;  and  I  hope 
to  have  it  ready  for  the  President's  inspection  by  Tuesday. 
...  In  giving  my  love  to  Maria,  tell  her  that  she  and  Miss 
Harrison  must  be  out  of  their  senses  to  think  that  I  can  have  any 
influence  in  placing  a  clerk  or  do  anything  else  here ;  but  .  .  . 
upon  every  occasion  I  have  freely  expressed  my  entire  disapproba- 
tion of  the  system  of  removal  for  political  opinions,  particularly 
as  applied  to  clerks,  inspectors,  &c.,  of  which  there  had  been  no 
instance  since  the  commencement  of  this  government.  .  .  . 

23d  May,  1829. 

.  .  .  Our  argument  is  in  the  press,  and  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  we  will  have  terminated  all  that  remains  to  be  done 
for  the  present  by  the  1st  of  next  month.  I  am  well,  though 
weak,  and  you  need  not  fear  for  me  the  effect  of  the  Washington 
climate  either  physically  or  politically.  There  are  some  things 
to  which  I  am  used,  and  which  do  not  affect  me  much  or  long. 
Was  I  not  postponed  to  make  room  for  Robert  Smith,  even  when 
in  my  prime  and  with  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  to  sustain 
me  ?  And  most  certainly,  whatever  may  be  the  claims  of  age  and 
services,  I  had  none  whatever  on  the  present  Administration. 
Age,  also,  so  advanced  as  mine,  is  not  a  recommendation ;  and 
we  must  make  room  for  younger  men.  .  .  . 

WASHINGTON,  8th  November,  1829. 

.  .  .  We  came  here  without  accident.  ...  I  work  as  much 
as,  but  not  more  than,  I  can  well  go  through,  but  my  progress  is 
slow ;  our  statement  will  be  nearly  as  long  as  one  volume  of 
Frances's  novels,  and  it  is  no  trifling  task  to  execute  a  piece  of 
close  reasoning  and  condensed  facts  of  that  length,  which  is  ulti- 
mately intended  for  the  public  eye  and  will  be  a  national  and 
perhaps  a  public  European  paper.  I  do  not  mean  to  let  it  go  to 
the  press  till  corrected  and  made  as  faultless  as  I  can,  and  am 
more  afraid  of  a  failure  in  the  style  than  in  the  matter.  .  .  . 
We  dined  yesterday  at  the  President's.  He  is  very  cordial,  and 
did  unbend  himself  entirely.  I  have  avoided  every  allusion  to 


634  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1829. 

myself,  his  Cabinet,  and  the  removals.  I  am  told,  by  one  who 
ought  to  know,  that  the  Cabinet  is  divided,  Ingham,  Branch,  and 
Berrien  being  the  moderate  party.  I  suppose  that  the  division 
at  present  is  only  as  to  removals,  but  with  an  eye  to  the  next 
Presidential  election ;  and  I  do  not  know  whether  we  must  not 
become  Jacksonites  in  preference  to  intended  successors.  Van 
Buren  is  gone  to  Richmond  to  court  Virginia.  .  .  . 

29th  November,  1829. 

...  I  got  a  cold  last  Tuesday.  .  .  .  The  weather  was  so  bad 
that  I  thought  it  best  to  keep  in  the  house.  ...  I  have  lost 

two  dinners  by  my  confinement,  one  at  Mr. and  the  other  at 

the  President's,  where  Albert  went.  This  was  a  splendid  affair ; 
the  East  room,  which,  notwithstanding  the  abuse  of  Mr.  Adams, 
was  but  an  unfurnished  barn,  is,  under  our  more  Republican  Ad- 
ministration, besides  the  Brussels  carpeting  and  silk  curtains,  &c., 
adorned  with  four  immense  French  looking-glasses,  the  largest 
Albert  ever  saw,  and,  by  the  by,  not  necessary  in  a  dining- 
room;  three  splendid  English  crystal  chandeliers,  &c.  Fifty 
guests  sitting  at  dinner,  one  hundred  candles  and  lamps,  silver 
plate  of  every  description,  &c.,  and  for  a  queen,  Peggy  O'Neal,1 
led  in  by  Mr.  Vaughan  as  the  head  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
and  sitting  between  him  and  the  President.  All  which  I  men- 
tion that,  having  had  with  me  your  share  of  the  vanities  and 
grandeurs  of  this  world,  you  may  be  quite  satisfied  that  we  were 
not  indebted  for  them  to  any  particular  merit  of  ours ;  and  that 
the  loss  of  popularity,  which  we  perhaps  regret  too  much  (for  as 
to  the  vanities  I  know  that  you  care  no  more  about  them  than  I 
do),  is  no  more  an  object  of  astonishment  than  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  acquired.  .  .  . 

1  See  Parton's  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  vol.  iii.  chap.  xvii. 


1830.  AGE.     1830-1849.  637 

letter  from  Robert  Walsh,  Jr.,  editor  of  the  American  Quarterly 
Review  in  Philadelphia,  requesting  an  article  on  currency,  in 
connection  with  Mr.  McDumVs  recent  Congressional  report  on 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Gallatin  replied  that  he 
would  be  disposed  to  comply  if  he  thought  he  could  add  any- 
thing to  what  had  been  done  by  others.  He  described  himself 
as  an  "  ultra-  bullionist,"  favoring  the  restriction  of  paper  issues 
to  notes  of  §100,  to  be  issued  only  by  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  bi-metallic  currency  of  gold  and  silver.  This  was 
essentially  the  French  system,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  had,  during  his 
residence  in  France,  become  prepossessed  in  its  favor.  In  reply 
to  his  request  for  statistical  information,  Mr.  Walsh  put  him  in 
communication  with  Nicholas  Biddle,  President  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  an  animated  correspondence  was  carried  on  for 
some  months  between  the  two  gentlemen.  Early  in  August, 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  called  upon  for  his  paper,  and  wrote  to  say 
that  he  was  not  ready.  He  excused  his  apparent  sluggishness 
by  describing  his  method  of  work  :  "  I  can  lay  no  claim  to  either 
originality  of  thinking  or  felicity  of  expression.  If  I  have  met 
with  any  success  either  in  public  bodies,  as  an  executive  officer, 
or  in  foreign  negotiations,  it  has  been  exclusively  through  a 
patient  and  most  thorough  investigation  of  all  the  attainable 
facts,  and  a  cautious  application  of  these  to  the  questions  under 
discussion.  .  .  .  Long  habit  has  given  me  great  facility  in  col- 
lating, digesting,  and  extracting  complex  documents,  but  I  am 
not  hasty  in  drawing  inferences ;  the  arrangement  of  the  facts 
and  arguments  is  always  to  me  a  work  of  considerable  labor; 
and  though  aiming  at  nothing  more  than  perspicuity  and  brevity, 
I  am  a  very  slow  writer."  This  assertion  must  probably  be 
received  with  some  qualifications ;  at  least  it  is  clear  that  much 
of  Mr.  Gallatin's  diplomatic  work  must  have  been  done  with 
rapidity  and  ease. 

In  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Biddle  he  gave  the  reasons 
which  had  produced  his  strong  faith  in  a  bi-metallic  currency,  and 
since  these  reasons  are  interesting  as  a  part  of  his  experience,  they 
are  worth  quoting  here :  "  The  most  skilfully  administered  bank 
can  only  be  prepared  to  meet  ordinary  commercial  fluctuations. 
But  when  a  real  and  severe  crisis  occurs,  you  are  perfectly  aware 


638  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GAL  LA  TIN.  1831. 

that  moral  causes  may  increase  the  pressure  to  an  extent  which 
will  baffle  every  calculation,  for  the  very  reason  that  those  causes 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  calculation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ex- 
ample of  France  under  the  united  pressure  of  a  double  invasion, 
a  failure  of  crops,  large  indemnities  to  foreign  countries,  a  vast 
portion  of  which  was  paid  by  the  exportation  of  specie,  an  un- 
settled government,  and  wild  stock  speculations,  is  decisive  to 
prove  with  what  facility  a  crisis  is  met  with  an  abundant  cir- 
culating metallic  currency.  We  were,  Mr.  Baring  and  myself, 
spectators  of  the  crisis,  of  which  I  could  only  see  the  external 
appearances  and  results,  whilst  he  was  behind  the  scenes  and 
deeply  interested  in  the  event.  We  conferred  often  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  came  to  the  same  conclusions.  He  has  ever  since  been 
an  advocate  in  England  of  the  simultaneous  use  of  the  two 
metals  for  the  sole  purpose  of  enlarging  the  basis  of  the  metallic 
currency." 

The  "  Considerations  on  the  Currency  and  Banking  System  of 
the  United  States"  appeared  in  December,  1830,  and  was  repub- 
lished  in  a  separate  form,  with  some  further  changes  and  tabular 
statements,  in  1831. l  As  a  model  for  clearness  of  statement  and 
thorough  investigation  it  then  stood  alone  among  American 
works,  and  even  in  Europe  it  might  be  difficult  to  find  anything 
much  superior.  Nearly  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since  this 
essay  was  written ;  finance  has  made  great  progress,  particularly 
in  the  United  States,  where,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  a  suc- 
cession of  violent  convulsions  ended  in  buildiiig  up  a  completely 
new  system  of  currency  and  banking ;  yet  even  to-day  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  essay  is  indispensable  to  the  American  student  of  finance. 
There  is  no  other  work  which  will  guide  him  so  surely  through 
the  intricacies  of  our  early  financial  history. 

The  essay  had,  however,  one  effect  which  its  author  did  not 
foresee.  He  wrote  as  an  economist  and  financier,  whereas  the 
bank  charter  was  a  political  question.  As  a  matter  of  finance 
he  argued,  as  every  man  who  was  not  a  politician  and  who  knew 
anything  of  finance  then  argued,  in  favor  of  the  bank.  That 
he  was  perfectly  right  can  hardly  be  made  a  matter  of  question ; 

1  Reprinted  in  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  iii. 


1831.  AGE.     1830-1849.  639 

the  value  of  the  bank  as  a  financial  instrument  was  very  great ; 
the  consequences  of  destroying  it  were  disastrous  in  the  extreme, 
and  were  acutely  felt  during  at  least  five-and-twenty  years. 
The  popular  fear  of  its  hostility  to  our  liberties  was  one  of 
those  delusions  which  characterize  ignorant  stages  of  society,  and 
which  would  have  had  no  importance  unless  politicians  had 
found  it  a  convenient  ally.  The  kindred  theory  of  its  unconstitu- 
tionally was  even  then  untenable,  and  is  now  ridiculous.  The 
people  of  the  United  States  have  learned  since  that  time  many 
lessons  in  regard  to  their  Constitution,  and  they  have  also  learned 
that  they  hold  all  corporations  at  their  mercy,  and  that  if  there 
is  any  danger  to  liberty  it  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  the  liberties 
of  corporations  as  those  of  the  people  which  suffer.  All  this 
was  even  then  plain  enough  to  a  man  like  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  had 
in  fbrty  years  of  experience  studied  these  subjects  from  every 
point  of  view ;  but  there  was  another  question,  the  answer  to 
which  was  not  so  clear.  Supposing  the  bank  to  be  destroyed, 
was  it  worth  while  to  attempt  its  reconstruction  ?  Setting  aside 
the  financial  question,  was  it  not  better  to  accept  the  pecuni- 
ary loss,  even  indefinitely,  until  some  new  remedy  should  be 
found,  rather  than  convulse  all  economical  interests  with  this 
perpetually  recurring  political  contest  ?  Most  men  would  now 
agree  with  Mr.  Gallatin  that,  under  those  circumstances,  it  was 
better  to  abandon  the  struggle  and  to  seek  new  means  for  an- 
swering the  same  ends ;  but  this  was  not  the  opinion  of  the  Whig 
party. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  pamphlet  was  circulated  as  a  campaign  docu- 
ment by  the  bank.  He  became  by  this  means  its  spokesman 
and  one  of  its  most  influential  allies,  subjected  to  suspicion  and 
attack  on  its  account,  although  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  he  not 
only  received  no  compensation  from  the  bank,  but  declined  the 
ordinary  pay  of  contributors  to  the  Review.  This  attitude  he 
was  probably  prepared  to  maintain  so  long  as  the  bank  charter 
was  undecided  ;  but  after  President  Jackson  had  carried  his 
point  and  the  bank  perished,  after  the  independent  Treasury 
was  organized,  and  the  Whig  party  was  setting  everything  at 
stake  upon  success  in  effecting  a  counter-revolution  and  restoring 
the  bank,  there  was  naturally  some  irritation  against  Mr.  Galla- 


640  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1832. 

tin  because  he  took  very  cautious  ground  and  preferred  to  accept 
the  situation. 

The  bank  charter  was,  however,  a  subordinate  and  compara- 
tively uninteresting  question  in  the  politics  of  1831.  Another 
and  a  more  serious  political  issue  was  threatening  the  existence 
of  the  Union  and  entering  into  all  the  most  earnest  discussions 
of  the  Presidential  election  of  1832.  This  was  the  protective 
system,  the  American  system  of  Mr.  Clay,  who,  always  true  to 
his  deep  feeling  for  nationality,  was  himself  the  best  product  of 
the  war  of  1812,  in  its  character  of  national  self-assertion.  All 
Mr.  Gallatin's  feelings  and  education  were  opposed  to  protection; 
his  voice  had  been,  as  he  took  pride  in  thinking,  the  first  in 
America  to  make  a  public  assertion  of  free-trade  principles,  and 
now,  in  1831,  his  advocacy  of  tariff  reduction  was  stimulated  by 
the  threatening  attitude  of  South  Carolina.  That  political  theory 
which  he  had  always  made  his  cardinal  principle,  and  which, 
in  its  practical  form,  consisted  simply  in  avoiding  issues  that 
were  likely  to  endanger  the  Union,  led  him  now  to  urge  timely 
concession.  In  September,  1831,  a  convention  of  the  friends 
of  free  trade  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  and  delegated  to  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Mr.  Gallatin  was  chairman,  the  task  of  pre- 
paring a  memorial  to  be  presented  to  both  Houses  of  Congress. 
This  memorial  forms  a  pamphlet  of  nearly  ninety  pages,  and 
was  such  a  document  as  he  might  have  sent  to  Congress  had  he 
been  still  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  it  was,  in  fact,  a  Secretary's 
report,  and  it  probably  had  as  much  effect,  'for  it  became  the 
text-book  of  the  free-traders  of  that  day. 

The  memorial  began  by  ascertaining  the  annual  expenditure 
of  the  government  and  the  annual  value  of  imports ;  from  these 
data  it  concluded  that  an  average  duty  of  25  per  cent,  ad  valorem 
on  the  taxed  imports  would  answer  all  requirements  and  should 
be  assumed  as  the  normal  standard  of  taxation ;  after  an  argu- 
ment on  the  general  theory  of  free  trade,  the  paper  went  on  to 
examine  and  criticise  the  existing  tariff  and  to  show  the  propriety 
of  the  proposed  reform. 

When  the  memorial  was  presented  to  Congress,  it  called  down 
upon  Mr.  Gallatin's  head  a  storm  of  denunciation.  For  this  he 
was  of  course  prepared,  and  he  could  not  have  expected  to  escape 


1832.  AGE.     1830-1849.  641 

blows  when,  at  a  time  of  intense  excitement,  he  voluntarily 
placed  himself  in  the  thickest  of  the  melSe.  It  was  then,  on  the 
2d  February,  1832,  that  Mr.  Clay  made  a  famous  speech  in 
the  Senate  in  defence  of  his  American  system,  and  into  this 
carefully  prepared  oration  he  introduced  the  following  remarks 
upon  Mr.  Gallatin : 

"The  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  about  to  allude,  although 
long  a  resident  of  this  country,  has  no  feelings,  no  attachments, 
no  sympathies,  no  principles  in  common  with  our  people.  Near 
fifty  years  ago  Pennsylvania  took  him  to  her  bosom,  and  warmed 
and  cherished  and  honored  him ;  and  how  does  he  manifest  his 
gratitude  ?  By  aiming  a  vital  blow  at  a  system  endeared  to  her 
by  a  thorough  conviction  that  it  is  indispensable  to  her  prosperity. 
He  has  filled,  at  home  and  abroad,  some  of  the  highest  offices 
under  this  government  during  thirty  years,  and  he  is  still  at  heart 
an  alien.  The  authority  of  his  name  has  been  invoked,  and  the 
labors  of  his  pen,  in  the  form  of  a  memorial  to  Congress,  have 
been  engaged,  to  overthrow  the  American  system  and  to  substi- 
tute the  foreign.  Go  home  to  your  native  Europe,  and  there 
inculcate  upon  her  sovereigns  your  Utopian  doctrines  of  free 
trade,  and  when  you  have  prevailed  upon  them  to  unseal  their 
ports  and  freely  admit  the  produce  of  Pennsylvania  and  other 
States,  come  back,  and  we  shall  be  prepared  to  become  converts 
and  to  adopt  your  faith  !" 

Mr.  Clay,  in  the  course  of  his  career,  uttered  a  vast  number 
of  rhetorical  periods  as  defective  as  this  in  logic,  taste,  and  judg- 
ment; but  he  very  rarely  succeeded  in  accumulating  so  many 
blunders  as  in  this  attack  on  Mr.  Gallatin.  The  bad  taste  of 
vilifying  an  old  associate,  in  a  place  where  he  cannot  reply ;  the 
bad  logic  of  answering  arguments  on  the  proper  rates  of  impost 
duties  by  remarks  on  the  birthplace  of  any  given  individual ; 
the  bad  temper  of  raising  mean  and  bitter  local  prejudices  against 
an  honorable  and  candid  opponent,  who  had  never,  under  any 
provocation,  condescended  to  use  such  weapons  against  others ; 
all  these  faults  are  excusable,  or,  at  least,  are  so  common  among 
orators  and  debaters  as  to  pass  almost  unnoticed  and  unreproved. 
It  is  not  these  rhetorical  flourishes  which  raise  a  smile  in  reading 
Mr.  Clay's  remarks,  nor  even  the  adjuration  to  "  Go  home  to 

41 


642  LIFE     OF     ALBEET    GALL  ATI  N.  1832. 

your  native  Europe,"  although  this  has  a  startling  resemblance 
to  the  rhetoric  which  Charles  Dickens,  at  about  this  time,  attrib- 
uted to  Elijah  Pogram.  All  these  are  faults,  but  this  paragraph 
on  Mr.  Gallatin  was  worse  than  a  fault :  it  contained  two  gross 
political  blunders.  One  was  the  pledge  that  if  Europe  would 
adopt  free  trade  America  would  be  prepared  to  imitate  her ; 
a  pledge  which  no  sound  or  well-informed  protectionist  could, 
even  by  inadvertence,  have  let  slip.  The  other  was  still  more 
fatal.  One  principal  motive  that  influenced  Mr.  Gallatin  in 
pressing  at  this  time  his  proposition  of  reducing  duties  below 
a  maximum  of  25  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  was  the  hope  that  by 
such  a  compromise  the  disunionist  propaganda  of  South  Caro- 
lina might  be  paralyzed  and  the  national  government  might 
escape  with  dignity  from  its  embarrassments,  without  really 
sacrificing  Northern  industry.  The  policy  was  wise  and  states- 
manlike ;  in  fact,  the  only  solid  ground,  short  of  armed  compul- 
sion, which  could  claim  logical  coherence.  Mr.  Clay,  however, 
characterized  it  in  terms  that  cut  him  entirely  away  from  all 
consistent  recourse  to  it;  yet  within  twelve  months  Mr.  Clay 
actually  assumed  this  same  ground  and  went  beyond  Mr.  Galla- 
tin in  his  abandonment  of  the  protective  system.  In  fact,  the 
difficulty  with  Gallatin's  scheme  was  that  it  did  not  go  far 
enough  to  please  South  Carolina,  as  appears  very  clearly  in  a 
letter  written  by  Gallatin  on  the  7th  April,  1832,  to  William 
Drayton,  one  of  the  South  Carolina  representatives,  in  reply 
to  his  request  for  the  sketch  of  a  bill  which'  should  reduce  the 
duties  to  an  average  of  10  per  cent.1  Mr.  Clay's  compromise 
conceded  everything,  and  that  too  in  a  worse  form  and  with 
deplorable  consequences.  His  reputation  suffered,  and  deservedly 
suffered,  in  proportion  to  his  previous  dogmatism. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Gallatin  had  at  last  fairly  adopted  a  new 
career.  Certain  persons  had  obtained  from  the  New  York 
Legislature  in  April,  1829,  the  charter  for  a  new  bank,  and 
finding  themselves,  after  three  successive  attempts,  unable  to 
induce  capitalists  to  subscribe  for  the  stock,  they  applied  to  Mr. 
J.  J.  Astor  for  assistance,  and  Mr.  Astor  agreed  to  furnish  the 

1  See  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  450. 


1832.  AGE.     1830-1849.  643 

necessary  capital  on  condition  that  Mr.  Gallatin  should  be  presi- 
dent of  the  bank.  Thus  the  National  (afterwards  the  Gallatin) 
Bank  came  into  existence ;  a  small  corporation  with  a  capital  of 
only  $750,000,  and  certainly  not  an  institution  calculated  to 
inspire  or  gratify  any  ambitious  thoughts  or  hopes.  Mr.  Gal- 
latin drew  from  it  the  very  modest  compensation  of  $2000  a 
year,  that  being  the  sum  which  he  considered  necessary,  in  ad- 
dition to  his  own  income,  to  enable  him  to  live  in  New  York. 
He  never  wanted  wealth,  and  was,  to  his  dying  day,  perfectly 
consistent  on  this  point  with  his  early  declarations.  Indeed,  his 
views  were  far  more  ambitious  when  he  was  surveying  the  Ohio 
wilderness  with  Savary  than  when  he  returned  to  America  after 
nearly  fifteen  years  passed  at  the  most  magnificent  capitals  and 
courts  of  the  world.  What  he  aimed  at  and  enjoyed  was  the 
respect  and  consideration  of  his  fellow-citizens.  In  this  he  was 
fully  gratified.  His  acquaintance  was  sought  by  almost  every 
person  of  any  prominence  who  visited  the  city.  He  was  ex- 
empted more  and  more  from  hostile  attack  and  criticism,  and 
his  occupations  were  such  as  to  keep  him  always  agreeably 
employed  and  to  bring  him  in  contact  with  numbers  of  intelli- 
gent and  educated  men.  One  by  one  his  old  associates  passed 
from  the  stage, — Jefferson,  Monroe,  Madison,  La  Fayette,  Ba- 
dollet, — but  a  younger  generation  had  already  supplied  their 
places.  His  conversation  was,  perhaps,  freer  than  when  he  was 
forced  to  weigh  his  words.  His  domestic  relations  were  pecu- 
liarly happy,  and  in  this  respect  his  good  fortune  lasted  till  his 
death. 

Under  these  pleasant  conditions,  Mr.  Gallatin's  active  mind 
turned  to  those  scientific  pursuits  for  which  it  was  so  well  fitted 
and  in  which  it  took  most  delight.  Perhaps  one  might  not 
wander  very  far  from  the  truth  if  one  added  that  these  pursuits 
were,  on  the  whole,  his  most  permanent  claim  to  distinction. 
The  first  debater  and  parliamentarian  of  his  day,  his  fame  as  a 
leader  of  Congress  has  long  since  ceased  to  give  an  echo,  and 
his  most  brilliant  speeches  are  hardly  known  even  by  name  to 
the  orators  of  the  present  generation.  The  first  of  all  American 
financiers,  his  theories,  his  methods,  and  his  achievements  as 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  are  as  completely  forgotten  by  poK- 


644  LIFE     OF     ALBERT     GALLATIN  1832. 

ticians  as  his  speeches  in  Congress.  First  among  the  diplo- 
matists of  his  time,  his  reputation  as  a  diplomate  has  passed 
out  of  men's  minds.  First  as  a  writer  and  an  authority  on 
political  economy  in  America,  very  few  economists  can  now 
remember  the  titles  of  his  writings  or  the  consequences  of  his 
action.  But  he  was  the  father  of  American  ethnology,  and  there 
has  been  no  time  since  his  death  when  the  little  band  of  his 
followers  have  forgotten  him ;  there  never  can  come  a  time  when 
students  of  that  subject  can  venture  to  discard  his  work. 

The  reason  of  this  steadiness  in  the  estimate  of  his  scientific 
reputation  is  simply  that  his  method  was  sound  and  his  execu- 
tion accurate;  having  set  to  himself  the  task  of  constructing 
a  large  system  of  American  ethnology,  he  laid  its-  foundations 
broadly  and  firmly  in  an  adequate  study  of  comparative  phi- 
lology. Abstaining  with  his  usual  caution  from  all  hazardous 
speculation  and  unripe  theorizing,  he  devoted  immense  labor 
and  many  years  of  life  to  the  routine  work  of  collecting  and 
sifting  vocabularies,  studying  the  grammatical  structure  of  lan- 
guages, and  classifying  the  groups  and  families  of  our  American 
Indians  on  the  principles  thus  worked  out.  Thus  it  was  he  who 
first  established  the  linguistic  groups  of  the  North  American 
Indians  on  a  large  scale,  and  made  the  first  ethnographical  map 
of  North  America  which  had  real  merit. 

Geography  was  always  one  of  his  favorite  studies ;  but  the 
influence  which  decided  the  bent  of  his  mind  towards  ethno- 
logical investigation  seems  to  have  come  chiefly  from  Alexander 
von  Humboldt,  at  whose  request  he  made,  in  1823,  a  first  attempt 
in  the  shape  of  an  essay,  which  was  not  printed,  but  was  quoted 
with  praise  in  the  Introduction  to  the  "Atlas  Ethnographique" 
of  M.  Balbi.  Following  up  the  line  of  inquiry,  he  set  himself 
actively  to  work  in  the  winter  of  1825-26  to  obtain  Indian 
vocabularies,  and  the  presence  of  a  numerous  delegation  of 
Southern  Indians  at  Washington  in  the  course  of  that  winter 
enabled  him  to  make  rapid  progress.  He  was  further  aided  by 
the  War  Department,  which  circulated,  at  his  request,  printed 
forms  of  a  vocabulary  containing  six  hundred  words.  He  then 
published  a  table  of  all  the  existing  tribes  in  the  United  States. 
In  1835,  at  the  request  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society 


1833.  AGE.     1830-1849.  645 

of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  he  prepared  an  essay,  which  was 
printed  the  following  year  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Society's 
Transactions,  under  the  title,  "A  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes 
within  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  in 
the  British  and  Russian  Possessions  in  North  America."  This 
paper  was  accompanied  by  an  ethnological  map  and  numerous 
vocabularies.  It  was  successful  in  its  main  object  of  giving  a 
solid  structure  to  the  science,  and  it  was  received  with  applause 
by  American  and  European  ethnologists.  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
encouraged  to  go  on,  and  under  his  influence  the  American 
Ethnological  Society  of  New  York  was  organized,  which  held 
its  first  meeting  on  the  19th  November,  1842,  and  in  1845  pub- 
lished its  first  volume  of  Transactions,  three  hundred  pages 
of  which  are  devoted  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  "Notes  on  the  Semi- 
Civilized  Nations  of  Mexico,  Yucatan,  and  Central  America." 
The  second  volume  appeared  in  1848,  and  contained  another 
essay  by  Mr.  Gallatin  on  the  geography,  philology,  and  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Indians,  printed  as  an  Introduction  to  a  republication 
of  Hale's  "  Indians  of  Northwest  America." 

These  three  essays,  with  their  vocabularies  and  maps,  may  be 
said  to  have  created  the  science  of  American  ethnology,  which 
had  until  that  time  existed  only  in  a  fragmentary  shape.  So  far 
as  they  were  philological  they  still  form  the  groundwork  of 
whatever  progress  is  made  in  the  study,  and  the  men  who  have 
rendered  and  are  now  rendering  the  highest  services  in  this 
science  are,  of  all  Americans,  those  who  have  the  keenest  sense 
and  speak  in  the  warmest  terms  of  Gallatin's  greatness.  So  far 
as  the  papers  were  general  and  descriptive,  although  forty  years 
of  investigation  have  greatly  increased  our  knowledge  and  mod- 
ified our  opinions,  they  are  still  held  in  high  esteem,  and  show  in 
numerous  places  the  touch  of  careful  and  discreet  investigation. 

GALLATIN  TO  JOHN  BADOLLET. 


YORK,  February  7,  1833. 
I  am  deeply  and  most  sadly  affected  by  your  letter  of  20th 
ult.     It  has  indeed,  my  dearest  friend,  been  a  source  of  constant 
regret  and  the  embittering  circumstance  of  my  life  that  not  only 


646  LIFE     OF     ALBEKT     GALL  A  TIN.  1833. 

we  should  have  been  separated  during  the  greater  part  of  our 
existence,  but  that  your  lot  should  have  been  cast  in  the  com- 
paratively unhealthy  climate  to  which  your  repeated  bilious 
attacks  and  their  sad  consequences  must  be  ascribed.  But  what 
else  could  be  done  ?  The  necessity  of  bringing  up  a  family  and 
of  an  independent  existence  is  imposed  upon  us.  And  although 
I  should  have  been  contented  to  live  and  die  amongst  the  Mo- 
nongahela  hills,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that,  beyond  the  in- 
valuable advantage  of  health,  they  afforded  either  to  you  or  me 
but  few  intellectual  or  physical  resources.  Indeed,  I  must  say 
that  I  do  not  know  in  the  United  States  any  spot  which  afforded 
less  means  to  earn  a  bare  subsistence  for  those  who  could  not  live 
by  manual  labor  than  the  sequestered  corner  in  which  accident 
had  first  placed  us.  We  can  but  resign  ourselves  to  what  was 
unavoidable.  And  yet  I  have  often  thought  that  we  boasted  too 
much  of  the  immense  extent  of  our  territory,  which,  if  it  makes 
us  more  powerful  as  a  nation  and  offers  so  large  a  field  for  enter- 
prise, carries  within  itself  the  seeds  of  dissolution,  by  expanding 
weakens  the  bonds  of  union  and  the  devotedness  of  genuine 
patriotism,  and  in  the  mean  while  destroys  the  cliarm  of  local 
attachment,  separates  friends  and  disperses  to  most  distant  quar- 
ters the  members  of  the  same  family.  In  your  remote  situation, 
thrown  at  the  age  of  forty-five  amongst  entire  strangers,  and 
amidst  the  afflictions  by  which  you  have  been  visited,  two  great 
comforts  have  still  been  left  to  you, — the  excellent  wife  with 
which  you  have  been  blessed,  that  bosom  friend  for  whom  there 
are  no  secrets,  that  faithful  partner  of  all  your  joys  and  sorrows, 
that  being  who  had  your  and  gave  you  her  undivided  affections 
with  tender  feelings,  without  the  least  affectation,  gentle  and 
prudent,  such,  indeed,  as  seems  to  have  been  a  special  gift  of 
Heaven  intended  for  you.  Add  to  this  the  consciousness  not 
only  of  a  life  of  integrity,  but  of  a  pure  life,  of  one  which  either 
as  private  or  public  should  satisfy  you  and  has  gained  you  gen- 
eral consideration  and  the  respect  of  all  that  have  simply  known 
you.  And  as  to  those  who  have  been  more  intimately  acquainted 
with  you,  who  has  been  more  generally  beloved  and  could  always 
count  more  sincere  friends  than  yourself? 

My  dear  friend,  you  judge  yourself  with  too  much  severity. 


1833.  AGE.     1830-1849.  647 

For  want  of  greater  offences  you  seek  for  specks,  and  your  ex- 
treme susceptibility  magnifies  them  into  unpardonable  errors.  I 
tell  you  the  truth,  Badollet,  when  I  assure  you  that  in  the  course 
of  a  life  which  has  brought  me  in  contact  with  men  of  all  ranks 
and  of  many  nations,  I  have  not  known  a  more  virtuous  and 
pure  man  than  yourself.  Your  education,  that  of  a  student,  and 
your  simplicity  and  your  unsuspecting  integrity,  unfitted  you  for 
that  active  life  of  enterprise  which  is  the  characteristic  of  this 
nation,  and  made  you  unable  to  cope  with  the  shrewdness  of 
those  by  whom  you  were  surrounded.  Still,  you  have  to  the 
last  resisted  every  temptation  and  struggled  for  existence  by 
honorable  means.  Yet  it  is  true  that  both  you  and  I,  during 
the  years  of  youthful  hopes  and  those  which  succeeded  of  arduous 
labors,  identified  with  our  new  country  and  surrounded  by  new 
and  dearest  objects  of  domestic  affection,  it  is  true  that  we  both 
neglected  to  correspond  with  the  friends  of  our  youth  and  to  pre- 
serve ties  which  could  not  be  replaced.  The  penalty  for  that 
offence  we  have  paid,  and  have  been  the  greatest  sufferers.  I 
have  been  far  more  to  blame  in  that  respect ;  and  yet  please  to 
God  that  I  had  nothing  worse  to  reproach  myself  with. 

We  all  went  to  Greenfield,  Connecticut,  during  the  cholera 
and  escaped  that  calamity ;  but  during  our  absence  we  lost  Mrs. 
Nicholson,  who  died  in  August  of  old  age  (88).  It  was  princi- 
pally on  her  account  that  Mrs.  Gallatin  wished,  on  our  return 
from  England,  to  settle  here.  I  found  after  a  while  that  my 
income  was  not  sufficient  for  this  conspicuous  and  expensive  city, 
and  this  induced  me  to  accept  the  place  of  president  of  a  new 
bank  (the  National  Bank  of  New  York),  which  I  have  now 
filled  for  near  two  years,  with  a  salary  of  2000  dollars.  I  might 
now  give  it  up  so  far  as  concerns  myself,  as  the  additional  in- 
come derived  from  my  wife's  property  is  sufficient  for  us ;  but 
whilst  my  health  permits  I  may  remain  in  it,  as  it  gives  me 
opportunities  of  introducing  my  sons  in  business.  Although  I 
neither  suffer  pain  or  can  complain  of  serious  illness,  I  grow 
gradually  weaker,  thinner,  and  more  and  more  liable  to  severe 
colds  and  derangement  of  the  bowels.  My  faculties,  memory 
of  recent  events  or  reading  excepted,  are  wonderfully  preserved, 
and  my  two  last  essays  on  Currency  and  on  the  Tariff  have  re- 


648  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1833. 

ceived  the  approbation  of  the  best  judges  here  and  in  Europe. 
I  had  another  favorite  object  in  view,  in  which  I  have  failed. 
My  wish  was  to  devote  what  may  remain  of  life  to  the  estab- 
lishment, in  this  immense  and  fast-growing  city,  of  a  general 
system  of  rational  and  practical  education  fitted  for  all  and 
gratuitously  opened  to  all.  For  it  appeared  to  me  impossible 
to  preserve  our  democratic  institutions  and  the  right  of  universal 
suffrage  unless  we  could  raise  the  standard  of  general  education 
and  the  mind  of  the  laboring  classes  nearer  to  a  level  with  those 
born  under  more  favorable  circumstances.  I  became  accordingly 
the  president  of  the  council  of  a  new  university,  originally  estab- 
lished on  the  most  liberal  principles.  But  finding  that  the  ob- 
ject was  no  longer  the  same,  that  a  certain  portion  of  the  clergy 
had  obtained  the  control,  and  that  their  object,  though  laudable, 
was  special  and  quite  distinct  from  mine,  I  resigned  at  the  end 
of  one  year  rather  than  to  struggle,  probably  in  vain,  for  what 
was  nearly  unattainable. 

The  present  aspect  of  our  national  politics  is  extremely  dis- 
couraging ;  yet,  having  heretofore  always  seen  the  good  sense  of 
this  nation  ultimately  prevailing  against  the  excesses  of  party 
spirit  and  the  still  more  dangerous  efforts  of  disappointed  ambi- 
tion, I  do  not  despair.  But  although  I  hope  the  dangers  which 
threaten  us  may  for  the  present  be  averted,  the  discussions  and 
the  acts  which  have  already  taken  place  have  revealed  the  secret 
of  our  vulnerable  points,  dissolved  the  charm  which  made  our 
Constitution  and  our  Union  a  sacred  object,  and  will  render  the 
preservation  of  both  much  more  difficult  than  heretofore.  I  have 
always  thought  that  the  dangerous  questions  arising  from  the 
conflicting  and,  in  our  complex,  half-consolidated,  half-federative 
form  of  government,  doubtful  rights  of  individual  States  and 
United  States  should,  if  possible,  be  avoided ;  that  the  bond  of 
union,  if  made  too  tight,  would  snap  ;  and  that  great  moderation 
in  the  exercise  even  of  its  most  legitimate  powers  was,  in  our 
extensive  country,  with  all  its  diversified  and  often  opposite 
interests,  absolutely  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  general  govern- 
ment. 

This  is  a  general  observation,  and  more  applicable  to  futurity 
than  to  the  present.  The  acts  of  South  Carolina  are  outrageous 


1834.  AGE.     1830-1849.  649 

and  unjustifiable.  The  difficult  part  for  our  government  is  how 
to  nullify  nullification  and  yet  to  avoid  a  civil  war.  A  difficult 
task,  but,  in  my  humble  opinion,  not  impossible  to  perform. 

Do  not  write  to  me  long  letters  which  tire  you ;  but  now  and 
then  drop  me  three  or  four  lines.  All  my  family  unite  in  affec- 
tionate remembrance  and  sympathy.  Give  my  love  to  your  wife 
and  tell  her  that,  whilst  I  live,  she  has  a  friend  to  whom  she  may 
apply  under  any  circumstances.  Farewell,  my  dear  friend.  May 
God  throw  comfort  on  your  last  years ! 

Ever  your  own  faithful  friend. 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

NEW  YORK,  3d  February,  1834. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — .  .  .  I  sympathized  most  truly  and 
deeply  with  you  in  the  irreparable  loss  with  which  you  have 
been  afflicted.  I  had  no  consolation  to  offer  you,  and  felt  so 
painfully,  that  very  wrongfully  and  shamefully  I  postponed  and 
postponed  writing  to  you.  Even  now  what  can  I  say  but  what 
must  renew  and  embitter  your  grief?  For  no  one  knew  more 
thoroughly,  appreciated  more  highly  than  I  did,  the  merits  of 
your  beloved  partner.  She  was  the  solace  of  your  checkered 
and  in  many  respects  troubled  life,  a  singular  blessing  bestowed 
on  you  and  long  preserved.  With  heartfelt  thanks  to  Him  who 
gave  it,  resignation  to  his  will  is  a  duty,  but  this  does  not  lessen 
the  loss  or  the  pain.  May-be  it  was  best  that  of  the  two  you 
should  have  been  the  survivor.  Do  you  now  live  with  any  of 
your  children,  and  with  which  of  them?  I  hardly  dare  ask 
how  your  health  stands. 

I  have  no  other  infirmities  but  a  derangement  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  stomach,  which  I  manage  without  medicine,  and  an 
annually  increasing  debility  which  none  could  cure.  It  is  only 
within  the  last  year  that  I  have  discovered  a  sensible  diminution 
in  the  facility  of  thinking  and  committing  thoughts  to  writing. 
But  this  and  other  symptoms  advise  me  that  my  active  career  is 
at  an  end,  and  that  I  cannot  continue  to  vegetate  very  long.  .  .  . 
My  daughter  has  already  three  children,  who  engross  the  atten- 
tion of  my  wife.  Mine  has  for  some  time  been  turned,  and 


650  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GAL  LATIN.  1834. 

will  be  still  more  devoted,  to  the  education  of  James's  son,  who 
has  tolerable  talents  and  a  most  engaging  disposition.  He  is 
the  only  young  male  of  my  name,  and  I  have  hesitated  whether, 
with  a  view  to  his  happiness,  I  had  not  better  take  him  to  live 
and  die  quietly  at  Geneva,  rather  than  to  leave  him  to  struggle 
in  this  most  energetic  country,  where  the  strong  in  mind  and 
character  overset  everybody  else,  and  where  consideration  and 
respectability  are  not  at  all  in  proportion  to  virtue  and  modest 
merit.  Yet  I  am  so  identified  with  the  country  which  I  served 
so  long  that  I  cannot  detach  myself  from  it.  I  find  no  one 
who  suffers  in  mind  as  I  do  at  the  corruption  and  degeneracy 
of  our  government.  But  I  do  not  despair,  and  cannot  believe 
that  we  have  lived  under  a  perpetual  delusion,  and  that  the 
people  will  not  themselves  ultimately  cure  the  evils  under  which 
we  labor.  There  is  something  more  wanted  than  improved 
forms  of  government.  There  is  something  wrong  in  the  social 
state.  Moral  still  more  than  intellectual  education  and  habits 
are  wanted.  Had  I  another  life  before  me,  my  faculties  would 
be  turned  towards  that  object  much  rather  than  to  political  pur- 
suits. But  all  this  is  for  our  posterity.  Farewell,  my  dear 
friend. 

Ever  most  affectionately  yours. 

The  only  specimen  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  conversation  which 
seems  to  claim  a  place  in  his  biography  is  that  recorded  by  Miss 
Martineau  in  her  journal.  Concise  as  it  is,  it  has  the  merits  of 
both  the  speaker  and  the  listener. 

MISS   MARTINEAU'S   JOURNAL.    1834. 

New  York,  24th  September. — Mr.  Gallatin  called.  Old  man. 
Began  his  career  in  1787.  Has  been  three  times  in  England. 
Twice  as  minister.  Found  George  IV.  a  cipher.  Louis 
Philippe  very  different.  Will  manage  all  himself  and  keep 
what  he  has.  William  IV.  silly  as  Duke  of  Clarence.  Gal- 
latin would  have  the  President  a  cipher  too,  if  he  could, — i.e., 
would  have  him  annual,  so  that  all  would  be  done  by  the  min- 
istry. As  this  cannot  yet  be,  he  prefers  four  years7  term  without 
renewal  to  the  present  plan,  or  to  six  years.  The  office  was 


1834.  AGE.     1830-1849.  651 

made  for  the  man, — Washington,  who  was  wanted  (as  well  as  fit) 
to  reconcile  all  parties.  Bad  office,  but  well  filled  till  now.  Too 
much  power  for 'one  man;  therefore  it  fills  all  men's  thoughts  to 
the  detriment  of  better  things.  Jackson  "a  pugnacious  animal." 
This  the  reason  (in  the  absence  of  interested  motives)  of  his 
present  bad  conduct. 

New  Englanders  the  best  people,  perhaps,  in  the  world. 
Prejudiced,  but  able,  honest  and  homogeneous.  Compounds 
elsewhere.  In  Pennsylvania  the  German  settlers  the  most  igno- 
rant, but  the  best  political  economists.  Give  any  price  for  the 
best  land  and  hold  it  all.  Compound  in  New  York.  Emigrants 
a  sad  drawback.  Slaves  and  gentry  in  the  South.  In  Gallatin's 
recollection,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Indiana  had  not  a  white,  except 
a  French  station  or  two ;  now  a  million  and  a  half  of  flourishing 
whites.  Maize  the  cause  of  rapid  accumulation,  and  makes  a 
white  a  capitalist  between  February  and  November,  while  the 
Indian  remains  in  statu  gito,  and  when  accumulation  begins, 
government  cannot  reserve  land.  The  people  are  the  govern- 
ment and  will  have  all  the  lands.  Drew  up  a  plan  for  selling 
lands.  Would  have  sold  at  two  dollars.  Was  soon  brought 
down  to  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  with  credit.  Then,  as  it  is 
bad  for  subjects  to  be  debtors  to  a  democratic  government,  re- 
duction supplied  the  place  of  credit,  and  the  price  was  brought 
down  to  one-quarter  of  a  dollar. 

All  great  changes  have  been  effected  by  the  Democratic  party, 
from  the  first  up  to  the  universal  suffrage  which  practically 
exists. 

Aristocracy  must  arise.  Traders  rise.  Some  few  fail,  but 
most  retain  with  pains  their  elevation.  Bad  trait  here,  fraud- 
ulent bankruptcies,  though  dealing  is  generally  fair.  Eeason, 
that  enterprise  must  be  encouraged,  must  exist  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  be  liable  to  be  carried  too  far. 

Would  have  no  United  States  Bank.  Would  have  free  bank- 
ing as  soon  as  practicable.  It  cannot  be  yet.  Thinks  Jackson 
all  wrong  about  the  bank,  but  has  changed  his  opinion  as  to  its 
powers.  It  has  no  political  powers,  but  prodigious  commercial. 
If  the  bank  be  not  necessary,  better  avoid  allowing  this  power. 
Bank  has  not  overpapered  the  country. 


652  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1836. 

Gallatin  is  tall,  bald,  toothless,  speaks  with  burr,  looks  vener- 
able and  courteous.  Opened  out  and  apologized  for  his  full 
communication.  Kissed  my  hand. 


GALLATIN   TO   BADOLLET. 

NEW  YORK,  3d  September,  1836. 

MY  DEAE  FRIEND, — Your  grandson  Gillem  arrived  here 
safely,  and  with  great  propriety  remained  but  two  days  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  West  Point.  ...  I  had  intended  to  go  myself 
to  West  Point,  but  chronical  infirmities,  always  aggravated  by 
travelling,  have  kept  me  the  whole  summer  in  the  city. 

It  is  not  that  I  have  any  right  to  complain,  .  .  .  feeling  sen- 
sibly the  gradual  and  lately  rapid  decay  of  strength  both  of  body 
and  mind.  The  last  affects  me  most;  memory  is  greatly  im- 
paired, and  that  great  facility  of  labor  with  which  I  was  blessed 
has  disappeared.  It  takes  me  a  day  to  write  a  letter  of  any 
length,  and  unfortunately  the  excessive  increase  of  expenses  in 
this  city  and  a  heavy  loss  by  last  winter's  fire  (in  fire  insurance 
stock)  compel  me,  for  the  sake  of  the  salary,  to  continue  the 
irksome  and  mechanical  labors  of  president  of  a  bank.  .  .  . 
Neither  I  nor  my  children  have  the  talent  of  making  money  any 
more  than  yourself,  though  the  Genevese  are  rather  celebrated 
for  it.  Mrs.  Gallatin  enjoys  excellent  health,  and  so  does  the 
family  generally.  Your  grandson  gave  me  a  more  favorable 
account  of  yours  than  I  had  hoped  to  hear;  And  I  was  also 
much  gratified  by  the  appointment  of  your  son  as  your  successor 
in  the  land  office. 

My  last  work,  written  in  1835,  at  the  request  of  the  Anti- 
quarian Society  of  Massachusetts,  is  a  synopsis  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  of 
those  of  British  and  Russian  America  north  of  the  United  States. 
It  will  contain,  besides  an  explanatory  map,  about  two  hundred 
pages  of  text  and  three  hundred  of  comparative  vocabularies  and 
grammatical  notices.  I  had  expected  to  have  sent  you  a  copy 
before  now,  but  the  printing  has  been  unaccountably  delayed  by 
the  publisher  employed  by  the  society.  I  have  materials  for 
supplementary  considerations  on  banking  and  currency,  but  I 


1836.  AGE.    1830-1849.  653 

have  not  courage  to  reduce  them  to  order,  and,  though  they  might 
perhaps  be  of  some  use,  the  bank-paper  mania  has  extended  itself 
so  widely  that  I  despair  of  its  being  corrected  otherwise  than  by 
a  catastrophe.  The  energy  of  this  nation  is  not  to  be  controlled; 
it  is  at  present  exclusively  applied  to  the  acquisition  of  wealth 
and  to  improvements  of  stupendous  magnitude.  Whatever  has 
that  tendency,  and  of  course  an  immoderate  expansion  of  credit, 
receives  favor.  The  apparent  prosperity  and  the  progress  of 
cultivation,  population,  commerce,  and  improvement  are  beyond 
expectation.  But  it  seems  to  me  as  if  general  demoralization 
was  the  consequence ;  I  doubt  whether  general  happiness  is  in- 
creased; and  I  would  have  preferred  a  gradual,  slower,  and 
more  secure  progress.  I  am,  however,  an  old  man,  and  the 
young  generation  has  a  right  to  govern  itself.  .  .  . 

I  had  expected  to  write  only  a  few  lines,  and  have  fallen  into 
digressions  of  little  personal  interest  to  you.  The  fact  is  that  as 
I  grow  less  capable  of  thinking,  I  have  become  quite  garrulous. 
I  only  wish  I  could  enjoy  once  more  the  pleasure  of  practising 
in  that  respect  with  my  old  friend,  as  talking  is  not  at  all  and 
writing  is  quite  a  labor  to  me.  Fare  you  well,  and,  whether  silent 
or  writing,  believe  me,  ever,  whilst  I  still  breathe, 

Your  old  and  faithful  friend. 

...  I  was  rather  astonished  to  hear  that  Harrison  had  a 
majority  in  Indiana.  In  the  Presidential  election  I  will  take 
no  part.  .  .  . 

GALLATIN  TO   MADAME   DB   BUDE,  NEE   ROLAZ. 

NEW  YORK,  1st  May,  1845. 

.  .  .  Rappelez-moi  au  souvenir  de  vos  fils  et  de  votre  frere. 
.  .  .  J'espere  qu'il  laisse  faire  les  gouvernements  et  qu'il  ne  se 
me'le  plus  de  politique ;  ce  qui  est,  comme  je  le  sais,  fort  inutile 
lorsqu'on  n'a  point  d'influence.  Et  je  puis  ajouter  que  mes  qua- 
torze  dernieres  ann6es,  c'est-a-dire  depuis  que  j'ai  e*te"  Stranger 
aux  affaires  publiques,  ont  4t4,  a  tout  prendre,  les  plus  heureuses 
de  ma  vie.  Mes  plus  belles  anne"es  avaient  Ste*  de'voue'es,  je  puis 
dire,  exclusivement  au  service  de  ma  patrie  d'adoption ;  celles-ci 
Font  Ste"  a  mes  enfants  et  aux  affections  domestiques.  De  plus, 


654  LIFE     OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN  1835. 

n'Stant  plus  sur  la  route  de  personne,  Penvie  a  disparu.  On  ne 
m'ecoute  pas  du  tout,  mais  on  me  considere  et  personne  ne  dit  du 
mal  de  moi.  .  .  . 

His  opinions  on  the  practical  working  of  our  government, 
especially  with  reference  to  taxation,  were  given  at  considerable 
length  in  a  letter  written  to  La  Fayette  in  the  year  1833.  One 
portion  of  this  letter  is  worth  quoting,  coming  as  it  does  from  an 
original  Republican  of  the  Jeffersonian  school  : 

"  The  local  taxes  in  the  country,  at  least  where  I  am  acquainted, 
amount  to  at  least  one-sixth  of  the  income,  and  that  on  houses 
here  [in  New  York  City]  to  not  more  than  one-twelfth  part. 
This,  merely  for  local  disbursements,  is  certainly  a  heavy  charge, 
particularly  in  the  country,  and  arises  partly  from  local  wants, 
which  for  some  objects,  such  as  roads,  are  very  great  in  propor- 
tion to  our  wealth.  But  it  is  also  due  in  a  great  degree  to  our 
democratic  institutions ;  and  the  burden,  which  was  extremely 
light,  especially  in  the  country,  fifty  years  ago,  has  been  gradually 
and  is  still  increasing.  The  reason  appears  to  me  obvious  enough. 
Government  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people  at  large.  They  are 
an  excellent  check  against  high  salaries,  extravagant  establish- 
ments, and  every  species  of  expenditure  which  they  do  not  see  or 
in  which  they  do  not  participate.  But  they  receive  an  imme- 
diate benefit  from  the  money  expended  amongst  themselves, 
either  as  being  employed  in  opening  roads,  the  erection  of 
buildings,  &c.,  or  as  being  more  interested  in  the  application  of 
public  money  to  schools,  the  payment  of  jurors  and  other  petty 
offices,  and  even  prospectively  in  the  provision  for  the  poor. 
They,  in  fact,  pay  little  or  no  portion  of  the  direct  tax  (occasion- 
ally enough  in  towns,  but  indirectly,  by  the  increase  of  rents), 
and  receive  the  greater  part  of  its  proceeds.  You  perceive  that 
I  do  not  disguise  what  I  think  to  be  the  defects,  and  I  know  no 
other  of  any  importance,  in  our  system  of  taxation.  I  do  not 
know  any  remedy  for  it  here  but  in  the  exertions  to  obtain  the 
best  men  we  can  for  our  municipal  officers.  But  where  institu- 
tions are  yet  to  be  formed,  I  may  say  that  I  have  not  discov- 
ered any  evil  to  arise  from  universal  suffrage  in  the  choice  of 
representatives  to  our  legislative  bodies ;  but  that  for  municipal 


1835.  AGE.     1830-1849.  655 

officers,  who  have  no  power  over  persons,  but  only  that  of  apply- 
ing the  proceeds  of  taxes,  those  who  contribute  to  such  payment 
ought  alone  to  have  the  privilege  of  being  electors." 

The  threatened  rupture  with  France  in  1835,  when  President 
Jackson  nearly  brought  on  a  war  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the 
French  Chambers  to  appropriate  money  in  pursuance  of  a  treaty 
for  the  settlement  of  our  claims,  disturbed  Mr.  Gallatin  greatly, 
and  at  the  request  of  Edward  Everett,  then  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, he  wrote  two  very  elaborate  letters  for  the  use  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Foreign  Relations.1  The  following  acknowledgment 
has  a  certain  characteristic  interest : 


JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  TO  GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  23d  February,  1835. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  am  obliged  to  you  for  putting  me  in  possession 
of  your  views  on  a  French  war.  They  are  such  as  I  entertain. 
I  know  of  no  greater  calamity  that  could  befall  the  country  at 
this  time  than  a  French  war.  I  do  not  believe  the  Union  would 
survive  it.  My  course  is  taken.  So  long  as  France  abstains 
from  force  I  shall  be  opposed  to  war,  and  I  am  of  the  impression 
that  such  will  prove  to  be  the  sentiment  of  the  entire  South.  .  .  . 

The  time  was  now  coming  for  one  more  great  effort  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Gallatin  to  control  the  course  of  public  events,  an 
effort  which,  considering  all  the  circumstances,  was  as  remarkable 
as  any  struggle  of  his  life.  It  was  his  last  prolonged  attempt, 
and  singularly  characteristic. 

Time  had  at  length  brought  the  realization  of  his  most  ardent 
hopes  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  national  debt  was 
paid ;  all  the  advantages  of  that  millennium  were  attained,  what- 
ever they  might  be,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  could  esteem  himself  happy 
that  he  had  lived  to  see  his  vision  made  fact.  It  was  not  to  be 
denied  that  the  establishment  of  republicanism,  and  even  of 
democracy,  had  been  long  antecedent  to  the  discharge  of  the 
debt;  had  proved  to  be  noways  dependent  on  the  debt;  had, 

1  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  474. 


656  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALL  AT  IN.  1836. 

indeed,  been  most  rapid  and  most  irresistible  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  war  which  his  own  party  had  made,  and  under  the 
burden  of  a  heavy  additional  debt  which  he  had  himself  helped 
to  accumulate.  This,  however,  was  of  little  consequence;  the 
results  were  gained,  and  the  time  had  long  passed  when  Mr. 
Gallatin  would  have  been  inclined  to  claim  exclusive  credit  for 
them. 

Unfortunately,  the  fact  became  immediately  obvious  that,  what- 
ever were  the  ultimate  and  permanent  advantages  gained  by  the 
extinction  of  the  debt,  the  immediate  consequences  were  disas- 
trous and  alarming  in  the  extreme.  Nullification  and  imminent 
civil  war  were  at  the  head  of  the  list,  but  were  neither  the  most 
serious  nor  the  most  corrupting.  Perhaps  a  worse  result  than 
civil  war  was  the  rapid  decline  in  public  economy  and  morality ; 
the  shameless  scramble  for  public  money;  the  wild  mania  for 
speculation;  the  outburst  of  every  one  of  the  least  creditable 
passions  of  American  character.  At  this  revelation  of  the  con- 
sequences of  his  own  favorite  political  dogma,  Mr.  Gallatin  stood 
positively  appalled.  "  I  find  no  one  who  suffers  in  mind  as  I  do 
at  the  corruption  and  degeneracy  of  our  government.  But  I 
do  not  despair,  and  cannot  believe  that  we  have  lived  under  a 
perpetual  delusion."  So  he  wrote  to  his  oldest  friend.  To  his 
alarm  he  found  that  extinction  of  the  national  debt  was  a  signal 
for  an  astonishing  increase  in  the  indebtedness  of  the  community 
at  large,  one  significant  sign  of  which  was  that  the  individual 
States  contracted,  between  1830  and  1838,  -new  debts  to  the 
amount  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions,  that  is  to  say, 
very  nearly  as  much  as  had  been  discharged  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment since  1789.  Under  any  circumstances  this  tendency  to 
extravagance  would  have  been  dangerous,  but  when  the  Presi- 
dent seized  this  moment  for  his  attack  upon  the  bank,  he  im- 
mensely aggravated  the  evil.  From  1830  to  1837,  in  anticipation 
of  the  failure  to  renew  the  bank  charter,  three  hundred  new 
banks  were  created,  with  a  capital  of  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
millions  of  dollars,  precisely  doubling  the  banking  capital  of  the 
country.  Meanwhile,  after  the  discharge  of  the  last  instalment 
of  national  debt,  an  alarming  surplus  rapidly  accumulated  in  the 
hands  of  the  Treasury  officials,  until  forty  millions  had  been 


1837.  AGE.     1830-1849.  657 

deposited  by  them  in  State  banks  and  had  become  the  means  of 
an  excessive  expansion  of  credit,  acting  as  a  violent  stimulus  to 
the  wild  extravagance  of  the  time. 

All  these  causes  produced  five  or  six  years  of  intoxication, 
during  which  the  public  morality  was  permanently  lowered  and 
the  seeds  of  future  defalcations,  public  and  private,  rapidly  ma- 
tured. Then  the  tide  turned ;  England  stopped  lending  money 
and  called  for  payment;  the  President  and  Congress  attacked  the 
resources  and  credit  of  the  State  banks  as  earnestly  as  they  had 
previously  helped  to  create  and  extend  both ;  the  New  York 
banks  stopped  discounting;  a  terrible  crisis  came  on;  and  on 
the  10th  May,  1837,  the  New  York  banks  suspended  specie 
payments.  The  universal  suspension  of  all  banks  throughout  the 
country  instantly  followed. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  bank  suspended  with  the  rest,  not  because  it 
was  obliged  to  do  so,  for  it  might  perhaps  have  held  out,  but 
this  would  have  answered  no  special  object  and  would  have 
produced  considerable  inconvenience.  Mr.  Gallatin  himself, 
therefore,  was  personally  involved  in,  and  partially  responsible 
for,  an  act  of  bankruptcy  which  was  to  him  the  substance  of 
everything  most  galling  and  reproachful.  He  could  not  but 
remember  how,  in  1815,  he  had  urged  on  the  government  the 
necessity  of  specie  payments  after  the  war,  and  how  there  had 
arisen  almost  a  coldness  between  him  and  his  friend  Dallas,  then 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  on  the  subject ;  how  he  had  remon- 
strated against  waiting  for  the  restoration  of  the  bank,  and  had 
pressed  the  Treasury  to  resume  at  once,  by  funding  the  excess  of 
Treasury  notes,  and  rejecting  the  notes  of  suspended  banks  when 
offered  in  payments  to  the  government.  That  he  should  himself 
now  belie  his  old  teachings  and  become  in  practice  if  not  in 
theory  an  advocate  and  supporter  of  an  irredeemable  paper 
currency,  was  intolerable.  He  had  made  every  effort  to  prevent 
the  necessity  of  suspension.  He  was  now  called  upon  by  every 
feeling  of  self-respect  to  bring  about  resumption. 

The  State  law  required  that  a  suspended  bank,  which  did 
not  resume  its  payments  before  the  expiration  of  one  year  from 
the  date  of  suspension,  should  be  deemed  to  have  surrendered 
its  rights,  and  should  be  adjudged  to  be  dissolved.  This  was 

42 


658  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GAL  LA  TIN.  1837. 

the  principal  lever  with  which  Mr.  Gallatin  could  work.  He 
represented  an  institution  which  of  itself  had  very  little  weight ; 
but,  although  his  only  means  of  interfering  at  all  was  in  the 
character  of  president  of  a  new  and  unimportant  bank,  his 
real  authority  was  wholly  personal,  and  it  was  fortunate  for 
him  that  the  want  of  capital  behind  him  was  supplied  by  the 
active  and  able  co-operation  of  other  bank  officers,  especially 
by  Mr.  George  Newbold,  of  the  Bank  of  America,  and  by 
Mr.  Cornelius  "W.  Lawrence,  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of 
New  York. 

On  the  15th  August  a  general  meeting  was  held  by  the  offi- 
cers of  the  city  banks.  A  resolution  was  adopted  appointing  a 
committee  to  correspond  with  the  leading  State  banks  through- 
out the  Union,  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing  on  the  time  and 
the  measures  for  resumption.  This  committee  consisted  of 
Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Newbold,  and  Mr.  Lawrence,  and  proceeded 
almost  immediately  to  carry  out  its  instructions.  Three  days 
afterwards,  on  August  18,  a  circular-letter  was  despatched,  in- 
viting the  other  banks  to  a  conference,  and  laying  down  in  very 
energetic  language  the  rules  which  should  guide  their  action : 
"  By  accepting  their  charters  the  banks  contracted  the  obliga- 
tion of  redeeming  their  issues  at  all  times  and  under  any  cir- 
cumstances whatever ;  they  have  not  been  able  to  perform 
that  engagement;  and  a  depreciated  paper,  differing  in  value 
at  different  places  and  subject  to  daily  fluctuations  in  the  same 
place,  has  thus  been  substituted  for  the  currency,  equivalent 
to  gold  or  silver,  which,  and  no  other,  they  were  authorized 
and  had  the  exclusive  right  to  issue.  Such  a  state  of  things 
cannot  and  ought  not  to  be  tolerated  any  longer  than  an  abso- 
lute necessity  requires  it.  ...  As  relates  to  the  banks  of  this 
city,  we  are  of  opinion  that,  provided  the  co-operation  of  the 
other  banks  is  obtained,  they  may  and  ought  to,  we  should 
perhaps  say  that  they  must,  resume  specie  payments  before  next 
spring." 

This  circular  had  one  immediate  effect:  it  developed  the  force 
and  character  of  the  opposition ;  it  brought  out  the  fact  that  the 
real  point  of  resistance  was  to  be  in  Pennsylvania,  and  that 
of  this  resistance  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  to  be 


1837.  AGE.     1830-1849.  659 

the  main  stay;  it  showed  that  politics  had  been  dragged  into 
alliance  with  the  less  solvent  banking  institutions,  and  that  the 
party  opposed  to  President  Van  Buren's  Administration  had 
hopes  of  forcing  the  re-establishment  of  a  national  bank  by 
making  this  the  condition  of  resumption.  Mr.  Gallatin  had 
no  great  sympathy  with  the  Administration  and  no  favors  to 
ask  from  it,  but  he  was  not  at  all  disposed  to  allow  his  ideas 
of  public  duty  to  be  subordinated  to  the  political  purposes  of 
the  opposition. 

On  the  expiration  of  the  bank  charter  in  March,  1836,  the 
old  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  accepted  a  new  charter  from 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  attempted  to  carry  on  its 
business.  Bad  management,  want  of  confidence,  and  the  uni- 
versal financial  pressure  soon  reduced  it  to  such  a  condition  that 
the  general  suspension  of  specie  payments  alone  concealed  its 
insolvency ;  yet  its  controlling  influence  over  the  other  Penn- 
sylvania banks  was  such  that  they  still  followed  its  lead,  and  all 
united  in  replying  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  circular,  that  they  deemed 
it  inexpedient  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  proposed  meeting  of 
bank  officers,  for  the  reason  that  general  resumption  depended 
mainly,  if  not  exclusively,  on  the  action  of  Congress;  thereby 
implying  that  no  permanent  resumption  was  possible  without 
the  adoption  of  their  policy  of  renewing  the  charter  of  the 
United  States  Bank.  The  Baltimore  banks  followed  their 
example,  and  those  of  Boston  returned  no  positive  answer. 

Unsatisfactory  as  this  result  was,  the  New  York  banks,  with 
Mr.  Gallatin  at  their  head,  resolutely  pursued  their  object.  On 
the  20th  October  the  committee  issued  another  circular,  in  pur- 
suance of  a  resolution  passed  at  a  general  meeting  on  the  10th, 
and  formally  invited  the  other  State  banks  over  the  whole 
Union  to  meet  in  convention  at  New  York  on  November  27. 
This  step  compelled  both  Philadelphia  and  Boston  to  accede, 
for  fear  of  the  consequences  in  case  New  York  should  act  alone. 
The  convention  met,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  acted  in  it  the  prominent 
part  which  naturally  fell  to  his  share  as  chairman  of  the  New 
York  committee.  His  opponents  did  not,  however,  press  the 
political  argument,  but  rested  their  case  principally  on  the  injury 
that  would  be  caused  by  a  premature  resumption.  Mr.  Gallatin 


660  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1837. 

met  this  objection  with  that  direct  assertion  of  moral  obligation 
always  so  fatal  as  an  argument,  raising  disputes,  as  it  does,  above 
the  ordinary  level  of  expediency,  and  throwing  opposition  into 
an  apologetic  defensive.  He  said  it  was  monstrous  to  suppose 
that,  if  the  banks  were  able  to  resume  and  to  sustain  specie  pay- 
ments, they  should  have  any  discretionary  right  to  discuss  the 
question  whether  a  more  or  less  protracted  suspension  was  con- 
sistent with  their  views  of  "  the  condition  and  circumstances  of 
the  country."  There  would  be  no  limit  to  such  supposed  dis- 
cretion. The  evidence  was  irresistible  that  the  banks  were  able 
to  resume.  Exchange  was  favorable.  No  known  cause  existed 
which  could  prevent  a  general  resumption.  The  arguments  and 
objections  of  the  United  States  Bank  of  Pennsylvania  were  neither 
more  nor  less  than  excuses  for  an  intended  protracted  suspension 
for  an  indefinite  period  of  time,  which  was  shown  by  the  fact 
that  this  bank  had  actually  put  in  circulation,  since  the  suspen- 
sion, a  large  amount  of  the  notes  of  the  dead  and  irresponsible 
Bank  of  the  United  States. 

The  situation  was  thus  narrowed  down  to  a  local  contest  be- 
tween the  New  York  banks,  represented  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  and 
the  United  States  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  directed  by  Mr.  Biddle. 
The  influence  of  party  sympathy  led  the  Boston  banks  to  sustain 
Mr.  Biddle  to  the  last  against  Mr.  Gallatin ;  Baltimore  followed 
the  same  course;  outside  of  New  York  Mr.  Gallatin  found 
support  only  in  the  North- West  and  South.  Yet,  although  the 
convention  was  nearly  equally  divided  and  nothing  more  than 
general  professions  could  be  obtained  from  it,  the  contest  was 
really  unequal,  and  there  could  be  no  question  that  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  master  of  the  situation.  The  New  York  banks,  actively 
supported  by  the  comptroller  and  the  State  government,  pro- 
ceeded to  take  such  measures  as  would  enable  them  to  resume  at 
almost  any  moment,  but  they  waited  still  some  length  of  time  in 
the  hope  of  obtaining  co-operation.  The  convention  had  ad- 
journed to  meet  again  on  the  llth  April,  1838.  Mr.  Gallatin 
and  his  colleagues,  who  represented  the  New  York  banks  in  the 
convention,  made  a  report  on  the  15th  December,  1837,  repre- 
senting in  strong  language  the  evils  of  the  situation  and  pressing 
for  combined  action.  On  the  28th  February  the  same  gentlemen 


1838.  AGE.     1830-1849.  ^61 

made  another  report  on  measures,  "  in  contemplation  of  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  on  or  before  the  10th  day  of  May  next/'  Nothing  was 
omitted  that  could  tend  to  secure  the  banks  from  accident  or 
designed  attack,  and  even  the  popular  feeling  was  enlisted  on 
their  side. 

When  the  adjourned  convention  met  on  the  llth  April,  a 
letter  was  presented  from  the  Philadelphia  banks  declining  to 
attend,  on  the  ground  that  the  banks  and  citizens  of  New  York 
had  already  acted  independently  in  announcing  their  intention 
to  resume  on  the  10th  May,  and  tkat  the  banks  of  Philadelphia 
"  do  not  wish  to  give  any  advice  in  regard  to  the  course  which 
the  banks  of  the  city  of  New  York  have  resolved  to  pursue ; 
they  do  not  wish  to  receive  any  from  those  banks  touching  their 
own  course."  One  might  have  supposed  that  after  this  defection 
of  Pennsylvania  there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  in  con- 
trolling the  action  of  the  adjourned  convention  when  it  met  on 
the  llth  April;  but  this  proved  no  easier  matter  than  before. 
Mr.  Gallatin's  object  was  to  fix  the  earliest  possible  day  for  gen- 
eral resumption,  since  New  York  placed  herself  in  a  very  critical 
position  so  long  as  she  stood  alone.  But  the  convention  could 
not  even  be  persuaded  to  fix  the  first  Monday  in  October  for  the 
day.  The  utmost  that  could  be  got  from  New  England  was  to 
name  the  1st  January,  1839. 

Left  thus  isolated,  Mr.  Gallatin  and  his  associates  went  directly 
on  their  course  alone.  The  New  York  banks  resumed  specie 
payments  on  the  10th  May,  as  they  had  pledged  themselves  to 
do.  They  resumed  in  good  faith  and  in  full ;  the  resumption 
was  effected  without  the  slightest  difficulty ;  and  it  is  but  just 
to  add  that  the  other  banks  made  no  attempt  to  impede  it. 
Then  came  the  inevitable  struggle  between  the  solvent  and  the 
insolvent  institutions.  Boston  acted  better  than  she  talked,  and 
all  New  England  resumed  in  July.  Public  opinion,  operating 
first  on  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  compelled  the  United 
States  Bank  to  resume  in  the  course  of  the  same  month.  The 
South  and  West  followed  the  example.  For  something  more 
than  a  year  the  insolvent  banks  managed  to  crawl  on,  and  then 
at  last,  in  October,  1839,  the  United  States  Bank  went  to  pieces 


662  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1839. 

in  one  tremendous  ruin,  and  carried  the  South  and  West  with 
it  to  the  ground.  A  long  and  miserable  period  of  liquidation 
generally  followed,  but  New  England  and  New  York  main- 
tained payments,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  had  once  more,  almost  by  the 
sheer  force  of  his  own  will  and  character,  guided  the  country 
back  to  safe  and  solid  ground. 

In  the  year  following,  on  June  7,  1839,  he  at  length  resigned 
his  post  as  president  of  the  National  Bank  of  New  York,  and 
retired  from  all  forms  of  business.  His  last  considerable  effort 
as  a  financier  and  economist  was  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet 
supplementary  to  his  "  Considerations  on  Currency."  This  essay 
of  one  hundred  pages,  entitled  "  Suggestions  on  the  Banks  and 
Currency  of  the  several  United  States,"  was  printed  in  1841. 
Its  value  is  principally  that  of  continuing  the  history  of  our 
financial  condition,  more  particularly  as  respects  currency  and 
banks ;  and,  taken  in  connection  with  the  earlier  essay,  it  forms 
a  hand-book  of  American  finance  down  to  the  year  1840.1 

Doubtless  the  students  of  to-day,  who  turn  their  attention  to 
these  papers  upon  which  the  reputation  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  as  an 
author  and  theorist  in  finance,  principally  rests,  will  find  that 
the  point  of  view  has  considerably  changed,  and  that  a  wider 
treatment  of  the  subject  has  become  necessary.  Not  less  the  cir- 
cumstances than  the  thought  of  that  generation  naturally  tended 
to  attribute  peculiar  and  intrinsic  powers  to  currency ;  a  tendency 
quite  as  prominent  among  the  English  as  among  the  American 
economists.  Mr.  Gallatin's  writings  dealt  mainly  and  avowedly 
with  the  currency,  because  he  believed  that  the  condition  of  the 
currency  was  the  responsible  cause  of  much  if  not  most  of  the 
moral  degradation  of  his  time,  and  that  a  return  to  a  sound 
metallic  medium  of  exchange  was  a  means  of  purifying  society. 
The  later  school  of  economists  would  perhaps  lay  somewhat  less 
stress  upon  currency  as  in  itself  an  active  cause,  and  they  would 
rather  treat  it  as  a  symptom,  an  instrument  operating  mechan- 
ically and  incapable  in  itself  of  producing  either  all  the  evil  or  all 
the  good  then  attributed  to  it.  The  following  letter,  at  all  events, 
shows  Mr.  Gallatin's  opinions  on  the  subject : 

1  Reprinted  in  Gallatin's  Writings,  vol.  iii. 


1841.  AGE.     1830-1849.  663 

GALLATIN  TO  JONATHAN   ROBERTS. 

NEW  YORK,  3d  June,  1841. 

RESPECTED  FRIEND, — I  received  your  welcome  letter  of  the 
27th  May,  and  return  in  answer  my  essay  on  currency. 

I  sometimes  flatter  myself  that  we  old  men  labor  under  the 
disease  incident  to  our  age,  and  that  we  think  that  the  world  has 
grown  worse  than  it  w.as  in  former  days,  because,  when  young, 
the  vices  of  the  times  had  become  familiar  to  us,  and  that  we  are 
shocked  by  those  of  new  growth.  Thus,  for  instance,  though 
you  and  I  were  temperate,  we  were  less  severe  towards  drunkards 
than  the  present  generation. 

Yet  so  far  at  least  as  respects  political  corruption,  it  is  impos- 
sible that  we  should  be  mistaken.  I  was  twelve  years  a  member 
either  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  or  of  Congress,  the 
greater  part  of  those  in  hot  party  times  and  conflicts.  And  I 
may  safely  affirm  that,  without  distinction  of  party,  a  purer 
assemblage,  in  both  bodies,  of  men  honest,  honorable,  and  inac- 
cessible to  corruption  could  not  be  found.  I  never  was  tempted ; 
for  during  my  forty  years  of  public  life  a  corrupt  offer  never 
approached  me. 

Now,  although  I  am  not  so  happy  as  Mr.  Calhoun  in  always 
finding  a  cause  for  every  effect,  I  will  venture  to  assign  two 
reasons  for  the  deterioration  we  lament. 

The  American  Independence  was  an  event  of  immense  mag- 
nitude, and,  though  not  altogether  irreproachable  in  that  respect, 
yet  comparatively  unsullied  by  those  convulsions,  excesses,  and 
crimes  which  have  almost  always  attended  similar  revolutions. 
The  greater  part  of  the  men  employed  in  the  public  service 
during  the  thirty  following  years  had  taken  an  active  part  in 
that  event.  The  objects  to  which  our  faculties  are  applied  have 
a  necessary  influence  over  our  minds.  How  diminutive,  nay, 
pitiful,  those  appear  which  now  engross  public  attention  and  for 
which  parties  contend,  when  compared  with  those  for  which  the 
founders  of  the  republic  staked  their  fortunes  and  their  lives ! — 
the  creation  of  a  great  independent  nation  and  the  organization 
of  a  national  yet  restricted  government.  I  do  believe  that  the 
minds,  the  moral  feeling  of  those  thus  engaged,  were  raised  above 


664  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1841. 

the  ordinary  standard  and  elevated  to  one  somewhat  proportionate 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  objects  which  they  did  accomplish. 

And  those  men  had  been  educated  at  a  time  when  the  Amer- 
ican people,  blessed  with  an  abundant  supply  of  all  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  were  still  frugal  and  had  preserved  a  great  simplicity 
of  manners.  Here  is  the  other  cause  'which  may  be  assigned  for 
the  present  depraved  state  of  public  opinion  and  feeling.  We 
have  rioted  in  liberty  and  revel  in  luxury.  As  we  have  increased 
in  wealth  and  power  the  sense  of  integrity  and  justice  has  been 
weakened.  The  love  of  power,  for  the  sake  of  its  petty  present 
enjoyments,  has  been  substituted  for  that  of  country  and  of  per- 
manent fame,  and  the  thirst  of  gold  for  the  honest  endeavors  to 
acquire  by  industry  and  frugality  a  modest  independence. 

Where  is  the  remedy  ?  We  cannot  and  ought  not  to  restrain 
by  legislative  enactments  the  marvellous  energy  of  this  nation 
and  the  natural  course  of  things ;  but  we  ought  not  to  administer 
an  artificial  stimulus.  This  stimulus  is  the  paper  currency; 
and  you  will  perceive  by  my  letter  of  1830  to  Mr.  Walsh,  which 
I  have  published  for  that  purpose  in  the  Appendix,  that  my 
ultimate  object  has  been,  as  [it]  still  is,  to  annihilate  almost 
altogether  that  dangerous  instrument.  I  admit  its  utility  and 
convenience  when  used  with  great  sobriety.  But  its  irresistible 
tendency  to  degenerate  into  a  depreciated  and  irredeemable  cur- 
rency, and  the  lamentable  effect  this  produces,  not  as  a  mere 
matter  of  dollars  and  cents,  but  on  the  moral  feeling  and  habits 
of  the  whole  community,  are  such  that  I  am  quite  convinced 
that  it  is  far  preferable  to  do  without  it. 

But  we  must  take  men  and  things  as  they  are;  a  sudden 
transition  would  cause  great  injury  and  is  impracticable.  And 
without  ever  losing  sight  of  the  ultimate  object,  I  formerly  pro- 
posed, and  now  suggest,  that  only  such  measures  [be  adopted]  as 
may,  it  seems  to  me,  be  easily  carried  into  eifect ;  as  would  greatly 
lessen  present  evils ;  and  as  have  a  tendency  to  improve  and  ele- 
vate public  opinion,  and  may  assist  in  gradually  preparing  a 
better  state  of  things.  With  that  explanation  you  will  under- 
stand more  clearly  the  object  of  my  essay. 

In  the  mean  while,  as  individuals  and  each  in  our  sphere,  we 
have  only  to  perform  our  appropriate  duties  and  sustain  our 


1841.  AGE.     1830-1849.  665 

precepts  by  our  example.  You  may  be  annoyed  in  your  new 
office ; l  but  there  is  this  advantage  in  an  executive  office :  that  it 
imposes  certain  specific  and  clearly-defined  duties,  to  be  per- 
formed day  after  day,  with  unremitted  industry  and  constant 
respect  for  law  and  justice ;  and  this  honestly  done  affords  the 
consciousness  of  being  a  useful  member  of  society. 

We  would  indeed  be  much  gratified  by  your  contemplated 
visit  to  New  York.  Left  almost  alone  of  my  contemporaries, 
the  meeting  with  an  old  friend  is  highly  refreshing  to  me.  And 
you  may  see,  by  the  general  tenor  of  this  letter,  that  I  consider 
you  as  one,  and  one  of  those  I  most  respect.  Mrs.  G.  requests 
to  be  kindly  remembered  to  you,  and  I  pray  you  to  rely  on  my 
constant  attachment.  I  am  altogether  unacquainted  with  our 
new  President.  He  has  made  some  sad  appointments  in  this 
city.  That  of  marshal  is  too  bad. 

Respectfully,  your  friend  and  servant. 


GALLATIN   TO   JOHN   M.  BOTTS,  M.C. 

NEW  YORK,  14th  June,  1841. 

SIR, — I  had  duly  received  the  letter  you  addressed  to  me  last 
winter,  and  had  hoped  that  my  declining  to  answer  it  would 
satisfy  you  that  I  had  an  insurmountable  objection  to  any  use 
whatever  being  made  of  any  conversation  that  may  have  taken 
place  between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  myself  on  the  subject  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  I  will  only  say  that  the  report  which 
reached  you  was  imperfect  and  incorrect,  and  that  he  lived  and 
died  a  decided  enemy  to  our  banking  system  generally,  and 
specially  to  a  bank  of  the  United  States. 

My  last  essay,  the  receipt  of  which  you  do  me  the  honor  to 
acknowledge,  was  written  without  reference  not  only  to  parties, 
but  even  to  any  general  political  views,  other  than  the  restoration 
and  maintenance  of  a  sound  currency.  Except  in  its  character 
of  fiscal  agent  of  the  general  government,  I  attach  much  less 
importance  to  a  national  bank  than  several  of  those  who  are  in 
favor  of  it ;  and  perhaps  on  that  account  it  is  a  matter  of  regret 

1  Collector  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  appointed  by  President  Harrison. 


666  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1843. 

to  me  that  it  should  continue  to  be,  as  it  has  been  since  General 
Jackson's  accession  to  the  Presidency  and  not  before,  a  subject 
of  warm  contention  and  the  pivot  on  which  the  politics  of  the 
country  are  to  turn.  I  am  quite  sure  that  if  this  take  place  and 
the  issue  before  the  people  be  bank  or  no  bank,  those  who  shall 
have  succeeded  in  establishing  that  institution  will  be  crushed. 
I  do  not  doubt  your  sincerity  and  bravery,  but  the  cause  is  really 
not  worth  dying  for.  Did  I  believe  that  a  bank  of  the  United 
States  would  effectually  secure  us  a  sound  currency,  I  would 
think  it  a  duty  at  all  hazards  to  promote  the  object.  As  the 
question  now  stands,  I  would  at  least  wait  till  the  wishes  of  the 
people  were  better  ascertained.  So  far  as  I  know,  the  opponents 
are  most  active,  virulent,  and  extremely  desirous  that  the  great 
contest  should  turn  on  that  point :  the  friends,  speculators  and 
bankrupts  excepted,  are  disinterested  and  not  over-zealous. 

I  have  the  honor,  &c. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  finance,  the  following  curious 
correspondence  may  properly  find  a  place  here.  Albert  Davy 
was  United  States  consul  at  Leeds,  England,  and  happened  to 
be  now  in  Washington  obtaining  a  renewal  of  his  commission : 

ALBERT  DAVY   TO  JAMES   GALLATIN. 

Very  confidential. 

WASHINGTON,  25th  December,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  induced  to  write  you  a  few  lines  this 
evening  very  confidentially  to  state  that  Mr.  Robert  Tyler  has 
just  called  on  me  to  ask  if  I  thought  Mr.  Gallatin  would  accept 
the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury  for  the  remaining  Presidential 
term,  or,  rather,  whether  his  health  would  permit  him  to  change 
his  residence.  He  told  me  the  President  mentioned  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  name  the  first  to  fill  that  important  post,  which,  I  dare 
say,  would  be  made  very  easy  to  him.  This  movement  is  of 
course  in  anticipation  of  Mr.  Spencer's  leaving.  As  no  one  as 
yet  is  aware  of  it  out  of  the  President's  immediate  circle  but 
myself,  I  am  sure  you  will  see  the  necessity  of  not  communi- 
cating this  to  any  one  but  to  Mr.  Gallatin.  .  .  . 


1844.  AGE.    1830-1849.  667 


GALLATIN  TO  ALBERT  DAVY. 


YORK,  28th  December,  1843. 

DEAE  SIE,  —  My  son  James  has  shown  to  me  your  letter  to 
him  of  25th  of  this  month,  received  yesterday.  It  seems  hardly 
necessary  to  make  a  serious  answer  to  it.  Yet,  as  silence  might 
be  misconstrued,  I  have  only  to  say  that  I  want  no  office,  and 
that  to  accept  at  my  age  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  would 
be  an  act  of  insanity.  I  cannot  indeed  believe  that  this  has 
been  seriously  contemplated  by  anybody:  you  must  have  mis- 
understood the  person  who  spoke  to  you.  I  might  give  con- 
clusive reasons  why,  even  if  I  was  young  and  able,  I  would 
not  at  this  time  be  fit  for  the  office,  nor  the  office  at  all  suit  me  ; 
but  this  is  not  called  for. 

I  remain,  with  great  regard,  dear  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant. 

JOHN  BARNEY  TO  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  January  24,  1844. 

MY  DEAE  SIE,  —  I  have  been  applied  to  by  one  of  the  Presi- 
dent's family  to  know  if  you  would  accept  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. If  you  would,  I  am  assured  that  it  will  be  tendered  to 
you  so  soon  as  vacated  by  the  confirmation  of  Mr.  Spencer. 

This  last  letter  is  tersely  endorsed  by  Mr.  Gallatin:  "Folly,  of 
which  no  notice  taken." 

Finance  was,  however,  only  one  of  the  numerous  subjects  in 
which  Mr.  Gallatin  took  an  active  interest.  Diplomacy  was 
another.  Our  relations  with  Great  Britain,  though  in  some 
respects  better,  were  in  others  worse  than  before  ;  the  postponed 
questions  of  boundary  became  serious,  and  especially  that  of  the 
North-Eastern  or  Maine  boundary  assumed  a  very  threatening 
aspect.  The  arbitration  of  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  had 
proved  a  failure,  owing  perhaps  to  the  fact  that  our  government 
failed  to  take  proper  measures  for  supporting  its  case  diplo- 
matically. Had  Mr.  Gallatin  been  on  the  spot  he  would  prob- 
ably have  brought  about  a  different  result  ;  but  Mr.  Van  Buren's 


668  LIFE    OF    ALBEET    GALLATIN.  1842. 

diplomacy  was  not  so  successful  in  Europe  as  in  the  United  States, 
and  he  had  more  need  of  it  in  Washington  than  elsewhere.  The 
question  between  England  and  America  was  thus  kept  open  until 
both  countries  became  seriously  anxious.  In  1840,  Mr.  Gallatin 
revised  and  reprinted  his  statement  of  the  North-Eastern  bound- 
ary argument  as  laid  before  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  in 
1830.  In  1842  the  British  ministry  sent  Lord  Ashburton  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  at  Washington,  and  thus  Alexander  Baring 
came  again  to  interpose  his  ever-friendly  and  ever-generous 
temper  between  the  fretful  jarring  of  the  two  great  nations.  The* 
time  had  been  when  the  British  government  and  people  treated 
Mr.  Baring's  warning  advice  with  such  contempt  as  only  George 
Canning  could  fully  embody  and  express;  but  that  time  was 
now  long  passed.  They  had  learned  to  lean  upon  him,  and  the 
American  government  readily  met  him  in  the  same  spirit. 

LORD  ASHBURTON  TO  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 

WASHINGTON,  12th  April,  1842. 

DEAR  MB.  GALLATIN, — My  first  destination  was  to  approach 
America  through  New  York,  but  the  winds  decided  otherwise, 
and  I  was  landed  at  Annapolis.  In  one  respect  only  this  was  a 
disappointment,  and  a  serious  one.  I  should  have  much  wished 
to  seek  you  out  in  your  retreat  to  renew  an  old  and  highly- valued 
acquaintance  and,  I  believe  and  hope  I  may  add,  friendship ;  to 
talk  over  with  you  the  Old  and  the  New  World,  their  follies  and 
their  wisdom,  their  present  and  by-gone  actors,  all  which  nobody 
understands  so  well  as  you  do,  and,  what  is  more  rare,  nobody 
that  has  crossed  my  passage  in  life  has  appeared  to  me  to  judge 
with  the  same  candid  impartiality.  This  pleasure  of  meeting 
you  is,  I  trust,  only  deferred.  I  shall,  if  I  live  to  accomplish 
my  work  here,  certainly  not  leave  the  country  without  an  attempt 
to  find  you  out  and  to  draw  a  little  wisdom  from  the  best  well, 
though  it  may  be  too  late  for  my  use  in  the  work  I  have  in  hand 
and  very  much  at  heart. 

You  will  probably  be  surprised  at  my  undertaking  this  task 
at  my  period  of  life,  and  when  I  am  left  to  my  own  thoughts  I 
am  sometimes  surprised  myself  at  my  rashness.  People  here 


1842.  AGE.  1830-1849. 

stare  when  I  tell  them  that  I  listened  to  the  debates  in  Congress 
on  Mr.  Jay's  treaty  in  1795,  and  seem  to  think  that  some  ante- 
diluvian has  come  among  them  out  of  his  grave.  The  truth  is 
that  I  was  tempted  by  my  great  anxiety  in  the  cause,  and  the  ex- 
treme importance  which  I  have  always  attached  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  between  our  countries.  The  latter  circumstance 
induced  my  political  friends  to  press  this  appointment  upon  me, 
and  with  much  hesitation,  founded  solely  upon  my  health  and 
age,  I  yielded.  In  short,  here  I  am.  My  reception  has  been 
everything  I  could  expect  or  wish  ;  but  your  experience  will  tell 
you  that  little  can  be  inferred  from  this  until  real  business  is 
entered  upon.  I  can  only  say  that  it  shall  not  be  my  fault  if 
we  do  not  continue  to  live  on  better  terms  than  we  have  lately 
done,  and,  if  I  do  not  misunderstand  the  present  very  anomalous 
state  of  parties  here,  or  misinterpret  public  opinion  generally, 
there  appears  to  be  no  class  of  politicians  of  any  respectable 
character  indisposed  to  peace  with  us  on  reasonable  terms.  I 
expect  and  desire  to  obtain  no  other,  and  my  present  character 
of  a  diplomatist  is  so  new  to  me  that  I  know  no  other  course 
but  candor  and  plain-dealing.  The  most  inexpert  protocolist 
would  beat  me  hollow  at  such  work.  I  rely  on  your  good  wishes, 
my  dear  sir,  though  I  can  have  nothing  else,  and  that  you  will 
believe  me  unfeigned  ly  yours. 

GALLATIN   TO  LORD   ASHBURTON. 


YORK,  20th  April,  1842. 
DEAR  LORD  ASHBURTON,  —  Your  not  landing  here  was  as 
great  disappointment  to  me  as  to  you.  I  have  survived  all  my 
early  friends,  all  my  political  associates  ;  and  out  of  my  own 
family  no  one  remains  for  whom  I  have  a  higher  regard  or  feel 
a  more  sincere  attachment  than  yourself.  If  you  cannot  come 
here,  I  will  make  an  effort  and  see  you  at  Washington.  Your 
mission  is  in  every  respect  a  most  auspicious  event.  To  all  those 
who  know  you  it  affords  a  decisive  proof  of  the  sincere  wish 
on  the  part  of  your  government  to  attempt  a  settlement  of  our 
differences  as  far  as  practicable  ;  at  all  events,  to  prevent  an  un- 
natural, and  on  both  sides  absurd  and  disgraceful,  war.  There 


670  LIFE     OF    ALBERT    GALLATIST.  1842. 

are  but  few  intrinsic  difficulties  of  any  magnitude  in  the  way. 
Incautious  commitments,  pride,  prejudices,  selfish  or  party  feel- 
ings present  more  serious  obstacles.  You  have  one  of  a  peculiar 
kind  to  encounter.  Our  President  is  supported  by  neither  of 
the  two  great  political  parties  of  the  country,  and  is  hated  by 
that  which  elected  him,  and  which  has  gained  a  temporary 
ascendency.  He  must,  in  fact,  negotiate  with  the  Senate  before 
he  can  agree  with  you  on  any  subject.  It  is  the  first  time  that 
we  have  been  in  that  situation,  which  is  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  France ;  witness  your  late  treaty,  which  the  French  Ad- 
ministration concluded  and  dared  not  ratify.  It  may  be  that 
under  those  circumstances  our  government  may  think  it  more 
eligible  to  make  separate  conventions  for  each  of  the  subjects 
on  which  you  may  agree  than  to  blend  them  in  one  instrument. 
The  greatest  difficulties  may  be  found  in  settling  the  two  ques- 
tions in  which  both  parties  have  in  my  humble  opinion  the  least 
personal  or  separate  interest,  viz.,  the  right  of  visitation  on  the 
African  seas  for  the  purpose  only  of  ascertaining  the  nationality 
of  the  vessel;  and  the  North-Western  boundary.  I  have  no 
reason,  however,  to  believe  that  the  Administration,  left  to  itself, 
will  be  intractable  on  any  subject  whatever ;  I  hope  that  higher 
motives  will  prevail  over  too  sensitive  or  local  feelings,  and  I 
place  the  greatest  reliance  on  your  sound  judgment,  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  straightforwardness,  and  ardent  desire 
to  preserve  peace  and  cement  friendship  between  the  two  kindred 
nations.  You  cannot  apply  your  faculties  to  a  more  useful  or 
nobler  purpose.  I  am  now  in  my  82d  year,  and  on  taking  a  retro- 
spective view  of  my  long  career  I  derive  the  greatest  consolation 
for  my  many  faults  and  errors  from  the  consciousness  that  I  ever 
was  a  minister  of  peace,  from  the  fact  that  the  twenty  last  years 
of  my  political  life  were  almost  exclusively  employed  in  pre- 
venting the  war  as  long  as  I  could,  in  assisting  in  a  speedy  resto- 
ration of  peace,  and  in  settling  subsequently  as  many  of  the  points 
of  difference  as  was  at  the  time  practicable.  May  God  prosper 
your  efforts  and  enable  you  to  consummate  the  holy  work ! 

After  successfully  negotiating  his  treaty,  Lord  Ashburton  came 
to  New  York,  and  the  two  men  met  once  more. 


1844.  AGE.     1830-1849.  671 

There  remained  the  question  of  the  North-Western  boundary 
to  fester  into  a  sore.  This  did  not  fail  to  happen,  and  in  1846 
the  two  nations  again  stood  on  the  verge  of  war.  On  this  sub- 
ject, too,  Mr.  Gallatin  published  a  pamphlet  which  took  a  char- 
acteristic view  of  the  dispute.1  He  did  not  hesitate  to  concede 
that  the  American  title  to  the  contested  territory  was  defective ; 
that  neither  nation  could  show  an  indisputable  right  in  the 
premises;  but  that  America  had  all  the  chances  in  her  favor,  and 
that,  in  any  possible  event,  war  was  the  least  effective  'policy ; 
"  the  certain  consequence,  independent  of  all  the  direct  calamities 
and  miseries  of  war,  will  be  a  mutual  increase  of  debt  and  taxa- 
tion, and  the  ultimate  fate  of  Oregon  will  be  the  same  as  if  the 
war  had  not  taken  place."  This  thoroughly  common-sense  view 
was  so  obvious  that  neither  government  could  long  resist  it.  The 
Oregon  question,  too,  was  in  the  end  peaceably  settled. 

There  was,  however,  one  political  difficulty  of  far  deeper  con- 
sequence than  currency  or  boundary,  and  offering  a  problem  to 
which  no  such  simple  reasoning  applied ;  this  was  the  growth 
of  slavery  and  the  slave  power.  Here  two  great  principles 
clashed.  The  practical  rule  of  politics  which  had  guided  Mr. 
Gallatin  through  life,  to  avoid  all  issues  which  might  endanger 
the  Union,  was  here  more  directly  applicable  than  elsewhere,  for 
Mr.  Gallatin  knew  better  than  most  men  the  dangers  involved 
in  this  issue.  He  had  found  even  the  liberal  mind  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  impervious  to  argument  on  the  consequences  of  extend- 
ing the  slave  power.  Not  only  was  he  no  sympathizer  with 
slavery ;  he  was  in  principle  an  abolitionist ;  he  never  changed 
that  opinion,  which  he  had  incorporated  so  early  as  1793  in  a 
draft  of  an  act,  declaring  that  "slavery  was  inconsistent  with 
every  principle  of  humanity,  justice,  and  right."  In  1843,  when 
Maria  Chapman  urged  him  to  write  for  her  anti-slavery  Annual, 
he  declined.  "  I  would  not  for  any  consideration  say  anything 
that  might  injure  the  holy  cause  in  which  you  are  engaged,  and 
yet  I  must  tell  the  truth,  or  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the  truth." 
Determined  to  respect  the  constitutional  compact,  he  carefully 
abstained  from  taking  any  part  in  the  slavery  agitation.  Never- 

1  Reprinted  in  Writings,  vol.  iii. 


672  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GAL  LATIN.  1844. 

theless  the  time  came  when  he  could  no  longer  be  silent.  On 
the  24th  April,  1844,  a  popular  meeting  was  held  in  New  York 
to  protest  against  the  annexation  of  Texas;  Mr.  Gallatin  was 
asked  to  preside,  and  one  of  the  most  courageous  acts  of  his 
life  was  to  take  the  chair  and  address  this  great  and  turbulent 
assembly : 

SPEECH   ON  THE  ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS. 

At  my  advanced  age  and  period  of  life,  withdrawn  as  I  am 
from  the  politics  of  the  day,  desirous  of  quiet,  nothing  could 
have  induced  me  to  attend  this  meeting  but  the  magnitude  of 
the  subject.  I  will  simply  indicate  the  points  involved  in  the 
question  which  has  called  us  together,  leaving  to  others  abler 
than  myself  to  discuss  them  at  length.  Till  this  day  the  United 
States  have  preserved  the  highest  reputation  amongst  the  nations 
of  the  earth  for  the  fidelity  with  which  they  have  fulfilled  all 
their  engagements  and  generally  carried  on  all  their  relations 
with  foreign  nations.  They  have  never  engaged  in  a  war  for 
the  sake  of  conquest,  never  but  in  self-defence  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  repelling  aggression  against  their  most  sacred  rights. 
They  have  never  acquired  any  territory  by  conquest  or  violence, 
nor  in  any  other  way  but  by  fair  treaties,  fairly  negotiated,  with 
the  consent  of  all  the  parties  that  might  have  any  claim  to  the 
territory  in  question.  What  now  is  the  nature  of  the  question 
which  has  been  proclaimed  lately, — the  annexation  of  Texas? 
By  the  most  solemn  treaties  between  us  and  foreign  nations 
Texas  has  been  adjudged  as  being  within  the  limits  of  Mexico. 
If  there  was  any  claim  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  that 
country,  it  was  expressly  renounced  by  these  treaties.  It  is  per- 
fectly clear  then  that  the  attempt  now  made  is  a  direct  and  positive 
violation  of  treaty  stipulations.  I  have  heard  it  stated  that  there 
was  danger  that  it  would  also  lead  us  into  war.  I  think  this 
but  a  very  partial  and  erroneous  view  of  the  subject.  I  do  as- 
sert, without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  annexation  of  Texas 
under  existing  circumstances  is  a  positive  declaration  of  war 
against  Mexico.  I  will  say  that  even  if  the  independence  of 
Texas  had  been  acknowledged  by  Mexico,  it  would  be  still  war, 
for  Texas  is  at  war  with  Mexico,  and  in  such  a  state  of  things 


1844.  AGE.     1830-1849.  673 

to  annex  it  to  this  country  is  to  make  us  a  party  to  that  war. 
But  in  existing  circumstances  and  while  Texas  continues  at  war 
with  Mexico  and  her  independence  is  not  acknowledged  by  the 
latter  power,  I  will  say  that,  according  to  the  universally  ac- 
knowledged laws  of  nations  and  universal  usage  of  all  Christian 
nations,  to  annex  Texas  is  war ;  and  in  that  assertion  I  will  be 
sustained  by  every  publicist  and  jurist  in  the  Christian  world. 
This  war  would  be  a  war  founded  on  injustice,  and  a  war  of 
conquest.  I  will  not  stop  to  inquire  what  Mexico  may  do  or 
ought  to  do  in  such  circumstances.  It  is  enough  that  the  war 
would  be  unjust.  I  know  nothing  of  the  ability  or  desire  of 
Mexico  to  injure  us.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  an  unjust  war, 
founded  upon  the  violation  of  solemn  treaty  stipulations,  would 
disgrace  the  national  character,  which  till  this  day  has  been  un- 
sullied. 

There  is  another  view  of  this  subject,  more  complex,  more 
delicate,  but  I  do  think  it  is  both  better  and  fairer  to  meet  it  in 
the  face.  I  allude  to  the  effect  that  this  measure  would  have 
on  the  question  of  slavery.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  from  the  beginning  founded  upon  mutual  concessions 
and  compromise.  When  that  Constitution  was  passed  it  appears 
that  the  Southern  States,  alarmed  by  the  difference  of  their  social 
state  and  institutions  from  ours  in  the  North,  required  some 
guarantees.  They  may  have  been  granted  with  reluctance,  but 
they  are  consecrated  by  the  Constitution.  The  surrender  of  fugi- 
tive slaves  and  the  non-equal  principle  of  representation  have 
been  granted,  and,  however  repugnant  to  our  feelings  or  prin- 
ciples, we  must  carry  out  the  provisions  into  effect  faithfully  and 
inviolate.  But  it  ought  to  be  observed  that  these  provisions 
applied  only  to  the  territory  then  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  none  other.  In  the  course  of  events  we  acquired 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  and,  without  making  any  observations  on 
these  precedents,  it  so  happened  that,  in  the  course  of  events, 
three  new  States  have  been  added  out  of  territories  not,  when  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States ; 
and  more,  eventually  Florida  was  added  to  the  slave-holding 
States.  Thus  it  has  happened  that  additional  security  and  ad- 
ditional guarantee  have  been  given  to  the  South.  With  those  I 

43 


(574  LIFE     OF    ALBEKT     GALLATIN.  1844. 

think  they  ought  to  be  satisfied.  Nothing  is  more  true  than  that 
if  we  wish  to  preserve  the  Union,  it  must  be  by  mutual  respect 
to  the  feelings  of  others,  but  these  concessions  must  be  alto- 
gether mutual  and  not  all  on  one  side.  If  it  be  asked  what  we 
do  require  from  the  South,  I  will  answer, — nothing  whatever. 
We  do  not  require  from  the  South  any  new  measure  that  should 
be  repugnant  either  to  their  opinions  or  feelings.  Nor  do  we 
interfere  with  the  question  of  slavery  in  Texas.  We  have 
taken  no  measures,  we  do  not  mean  to  take  any  measures,  either 
to  prevent  or  induce  them  to  admit  slavery.  It  is  a  free,  in- 
dependent State,  and  we  wish  them  to  do  precisely  what  they 
please.  All  we  ask  is  to  preserve  the  present  state  of  things. 
All  we  ask  is  that  no  such  plan  as  shall  again  agitate  that  ques- 
tion shall  be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  effect.  It  is  too  much  to 
ask  from  us  that  we  should  take  an  active  part  in  permitting  the 
accession  of  a  foreign  state,  and  a  foreign  slave-holding  state, 
to  the  Union ;  and  that  we  should  consent  that  new  States  should 
again  be  added  to  those  upon  an  equal  basis  of  representation. 
This  is  all  we  ask.  The  discussion  of  these  questions  does  not 
originate  with  us.  It  originates  with  those  who  have  fostered 
this  plan.  We  wish  every  discussion  of  this  question  to  be 
avoided.  But  if  it  be  forced  upon  us  we  will  be  forced  to  meet  it. 
There  are  other  considerations  and  most  momentous  ques- 
tions which  depend  upon  this.  In  the  first  place,  does  the 
treaty-making  power  imply  a  power  to  annul  existing  treaties  ? 
Does  that  power  embrace  the  right  of  declaring,  war  ?  Can  the 
President  or  Senate,  in  making  a  treaty  with  another  power,  dis- 
regard the  stipulations  of  a  treaty  with  a  third  party  ?  Again, 
can  a*  foreign  state  be  admitted  in  the  Union  without  the  unani- 
mous consent  of  all  the  parties  to  the  compact  ?  I  know  that 
the  precedents  of  Louisiana  and  Florida  may  be  adduced ;  but 
let  us  see  how  far  they  go.  Their  validity  depends  solely  on  the 
fact  that  there  was  universal  acquiescence.  Not  one  State  in  the 
Union  protested  against  the  proceeding,  and  if  upon  this  occasion 
the  same  should  occur,  I  will  say  that  without  adverting  to  forms 
we  might  consider  it  proper  to  admit  that  there  is  a  right.  But 
the  precedent  goes  no  farther.  It  does  not  go  to  the  point  that 
the  power  does  or  does  not  exist. 


1844.  AGE.     1830-1849.  675 

These,  I  have  said,  are  momentous  questions,  such  as  would 
necessarily  shake  the  Union  to  its  very  centre,  and  such  as  1 
wish  to  see  forever  avoided.  Another  point.  This  measure 
will  bring  indelible  disgrace  upon  our  democratic  institutions ; 
it  will  bring  them  into  discredit;  it  will  excite  the  hopes  of 
their  enemies ;  it  will  check  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  mankind. 
We  had  hoped  that,  when  the  people  of  the  United  States  had 
resumed  their  rights  and  the  government  was  in  their  hands, 
there  would  be  a  gradual  amelioration  of  legislation,  of  the 
social  state,  of  the  intercourse  between  men.  All  this  is  checked 
by  a  measure  on  which  treaties  are  violated  and  an  unjust  war 
undertaken. 

Still,  I  do  not  despair.  My  confidence  is  in  the  people.  But 
we  must  give  them  time  to  make,  to  form,  and  to  express  their 
opinions ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  I  do  strongly  reprobate  the 
secret,  the  insidious  manner  in  which  that  plot  has  been  con- 
ducted, so  as  to  debar  the  people  of  the  Union  from  the  right  of 
expressing  an  opinion  on  the  subject. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  done.  I  thank  you  for  the  indulgence 
with  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  listen  to  me.  I  am  highly 
gratified  that  the  last  public  act  of  a  long  life  should  have  been 
that  of  bearing  testimony  against  this  outrageous  attempt.  It  is 
indeed  a  consolation  that  my  almost  extinguished  voice  has  been 
on  this  occasion  raised  in  defence  of  liberty,  of  justice,  and  of 
our  country. 

Eepeatedly  interrupted;  at  moments  absolutely  stopped  by 
uproar  and  rioting;  able  to  make  his  feeble  voice  heard  only  by 
those  immediately  around  him,  he  still  resolutely  maintained  his 
ground  and  persisted  to  the  end.  Mr.  Gallatin  was  at  that  time 
in  his  eighty-fourth  year ;  nothing  but  the  most  conscientious 
sense  of  duty  could  possibly  have  induced  him  to  appear  again 
in  public,  especially  on  an  occasion  when  it  was  well  known  that 
the  worst  passions  of  the  worst  populace  in  the  city  of  New 
York  would  be  aroused  against  him.  Not  even  when  he  risked 
his  life  before  the  rifles  of  the  backwoodsmen  at  Redstone  Old 
Fort  had  he  given  so  striking  proof  of  his  moral  courage. 

Perhaps  it  was  this  final  proof  that  gave  point  to  a  short 


676  LIFE    OF    ALBERT    GALLATIN.  1844. 

speech  of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  which  has  been  already  alluded 
to.  In  the  month  of  November  following  the  annexation  meet- 
ing, the  New  York  Historical  Society,  of  which  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  now  president,  held  a  celebration,  followed  by  a  dinner, 
given  in  his  honor.  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams  was  one  of  the  invited 
guests,  and  took  the  occasion  to  make  the  following  remarks. 
Readers  of  his  Diary  will  appreciate  how  much  his  concluding 
words  meant  to  him ;  honesty,  as  both  Mr.  Gallatin  and  him- 
self had  found,  was  not  only  the  highest,  but  one  of  the  rarest, 
public  virtues : 

"  To  the  letter,"  said  Mr.  Adams,  "  which  was  sent  me,  your 
honorable  president  added  a  line,  saying,  e  I  shall  be  glad  to 
shake  hands  with  you  once  more  in  this  world.7  Sir,  if  nothing 
else  could  have  induced  me,  these  words  would  have  compelled 
my  attendance  here,  and  I  can  conceive  of  nothing  that  would 
have  prevented  me.  I  have  lived  long,  sir,  in  this  world,  and 
I  have  been  connected  with  all  sorts  of  men,  of  all  sects  and 
descriptions.  I  have  been  in  the  public  service  for  a  great  part 
of  my  life,  and  filled  various  offices  of  trust  in  conjunction  with 
that  venerable  gentleman,  Albert  Gallatin.  I  have  known 
him  half  a  century.  In  many  things  we  differed ;  on  many 
questions  of  public  interest  and  policy  we  were  divided,  and 
in  the  history  of  parties  in  this  country  there  is  no  man  from 
whom  I  have  so  widely  differed  as  from  him.  But  on  other 
things  we  have  harmonized;  and  now  there  is  no  man  with 
whom  I  more  thoroughly  agree  on  all  points  -than  I  do  with 
him.  But  one  word  more.  Let  me  say,  before  I  leave  you  and 
him, — birds  of  passage  as  we  are,  bound  to  a  warmer  and  more 
congenial  clime, — that  among  all  the  public  men  with  whom  I 
have  been  associated  in  the  course  of  my  political  life,  whether 
agreeing  or  differing  in  opinion  with  him,  I  have  always  found 
him  to  be  an  honest  and  honorable  man." 

In  spite  of  all  the  opposition  of  the  North,  the  war  with 
Mexico  took  place.  Every  moral  conviction  and  every  life- 
long hope  of  Mr.  Gallatin  were  outraged  by  this  act  of  our 
government.  The  weight  of  national  immorality  rested  inces- 
santly on  his  mind.  He  would  not  abandon  his  faith  in  human 
nature;  he  determined  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  moral  sense 


1848.  AGE.     1830-1849.  677 

of  the  American  public,  and  to  scatter  this  appeal  broadcast  by 
the  hundred  thousand  copies  over  the  country.  With  this  view 
he  wrote  his  pamphlet  on  "  Peace  with  Mexico," l  yet  accom- 
panying it  with  another  on  "  War  Expenses,"  which  invoked 
more  worldly  interests.  His  object  was  to  urge  the  conclusion 
of  a  peace  on  moral  and  equitable  principles,  and,  feeling  that 
time  was  short,  he  pressed  forward  with  feverish  haste.  On  the 
15th  February,  1848,  he  said,  "  I  write  with  great  difficulty,  and 
I  become  exhausted  when  I  work  more  than  four  or  five  hours 
a  day.  Ever  since  the  end  of  October  all  my  faculties,  impaired 
as  they  are,  were  absorbed  in  one  subject;  not  only  my  faculties, 
but  I  may  say  all  my  feelings.  I  thought  of  nothing  else: 
Age  quod  agis !  I  postponed  everything  else,  even  a  volume 
of  ethnography  which  was  in  the  press;  even  answering  the 
letters  which  did  not  absolutely  require  immediate  attention." 

The  warnings  to  be  quick  came  thick  and  fast.  Only  a  week 
after  he  wrote  this  letter,  his  old  associate,  J.  Q.  Adams,. breathed 
his  last  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  A  few  weeks  more  brought 
the  news  that  Alexander  Baring  was  dead.  In  Europe  society 
itself  seemed  about  to  break  in  pieces,  and  everything  old  was 
passing  away  with  a  rapidity  that  recalled  the  days  of  the  first 
French  revolution.  Mr.  Gallatin  might  well  think  it  necessary 
to  press  his  pace  and  to  economize  every  instant  that  remained ; 
and  yet  in  that  eventful  year  the  world  moved  more  rapidly 
still,  and  he  had  time — though  not  much — to  spare.  His  pam- 
phlets were  sent  in  great  numbers  over  the  North  and  East,  and 
certainly  had  their  share  in  leading  the  government  to  accept 
the  treaty  of  peace  which  was  negotiated  by  Mr.  Trist,  notwith- 
standing instructions  to  leave  Mexico,  and  signed  by  him  at 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  on  the  2d  of  February. 

These  pamphlets  were  his  last  intellectual  effort  As  the  year 
advanced,  symptoms  of  decline  became  more  and  more  evident. 
His  memory  began  to  fail.  When  alone,  he  caught  .himself 
talking  in  French  as  when  a  boy.  His  mind  recurred  much  to 
his  early  youth,  to  Geneva,  to  his  school,  to  Mile.  Pictet,  and 
undoubtedly  to  that  self-reproach  for  his  neglect  of  her  and  of 

1  Reprinted  in  Writings,  vol.  iii. 


678  LIFE    OF    ALBEKT    GALLATIN.  1849. 

his  family  which  seems  to  have  weighed  upon  him  throughout 
life.  The  Presidential  election  of  1848  was  a  great  satisfaction 
to  him ;  but  he  thought  more  frequently  and  naturally  of  his 
own  past  political  contests  and  of  the  Presidents  whom  he  had 
helped  to  make.  His  mind  became  more  excitable  as  his  strength 
declined.  There  was,  however,  little  to  be  done  or  desired  by 
him  in  the  way  of  preparation ;  his  life  had  left  no  traces  to  be 
erased,  and  his  death  would  create  no  confusion  and  required  no 
long  or  laborious  forethought.  He  had  felt  a  certain  pride  in 
his  modest  means ;  his  avowed  principle  had  been  that  a  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  should  not  acquire  wealth.  He  had  no 
enemies  to  forgive.  " '  I  cannot  charge  myself  with  malignity 
of  temper/  "  he  said ;  " ' indeed,  I  have  been  regarded  as  mild 
and  amiable.  But  now,  approaching  the  confines  of  the  eternal 
world,  I  desire  to  examine  myself  with  the  utmost  rigor  to  see 
whether  I  am  in  charity  with  all  mankind.  On  this  retrospect 
I  cannot  remember  any  adversary  whom  I  have  not  forgiven,  or 
to  whom  I  have  failed  to  make  known  my  forgiveness,  except 
one,  and  he  is  no  longer  living.7  Here  he  named  a  late  eminent 
politician  of  Virginia" ;  doubtless  William  B.  Giles. 

During  the  last  months  of  his  life  he  turned  with  great 
earnestness  to  the  promises  and  hopes  of  religion.  His  clergy- 
man, Dr.  Alexander,  kept  memoranda  of  his  conversation  on  this 
subject.  "  I  never  was  an  infidel/7  he  said ;  "  though  I  have 
had  my  doubts,  and  the  habit  of  my  thinking  has  been  to  push 
discoveries  to  their  utmost  consequences  without  fear.  ...  I 
have  always  leaned  towards  Arminianism ;  but  the  points  are 
very  difficult.  I  am  a  bold  speculator.  Such  has  been  the  habit 
of  my  mind  all  my  life  long." 

He  failed  slowly  as  the  winter  of  1848-49  passed,  and  was 
for  the  most  part  confined  to  his  room  and  his  bed.  In  the 
month  of  May,  1849,  while  he  thus  lay  helpless,  his  wife  died 
in  the  adjoining  room,  leaving  him  deeply  overcome  and  shaken 
by  agitation  and  grief.  Nevertheless,  he  survived  to  be  taken, 
as  the  summer  came  on,  to  his  daughter's  house  at  Astoria. 
There,  on  the  12th  August,  1849,  his  life  ended. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Adams,  John,  310,  372,  399,  411,  427, 
460;  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  favors  Gallatin's  claim  to  eligi- 
bility for  the  Senate,  120,  121 ;  elected 
President,  178  ;  suspects  intrigue,  178  ; 
his  first  speech  to  Congress,  183 ;  his 
second  speech,  188  ;  declines  invitation 
to  birthday  ball,  194;  nominates  Wil- 
liam Vans  Murray  to  France,  220,  221  ; 
remark  on  mediation,  223 ;  bis  third 
speech  to  Congress,  223 ;  ostensibly  re- 
nominated  for  the  Presidency,  241 ;  his 
conduct  in  1801,  258,  265,  266;  calls 
the  Senate,  260,  263. 

Adams,  Mrs.  John,  185. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  429,  502,  634 ;  re- 
jected by  the  Senate  as  minister  to 
Russia,  389 ;  his  account  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  Senate  in  1809,  389-391 ; 
his  account  of  Duane  and  Binns,  442; 
commissioner  under  the  mediation, 
479;  parallelism  of  his  career  with 
Gallatin's,  495-497  ;  his  antagonism  to 
Mr.  Clay,  520,  522 ;  his  account  of  his 
colleagues  at  Ghent,  523,  527, 528 ;  pre- 
pares articles,  540  ;  his  struggle  to  se- 
cure the  fisheries,  540-545;  minister 
to  England,  548;  joined  in  negotiating 
commercial  convention,  548 ;  his  char- 
acter, 552,  592,  599  ;  Secretary  of  State, 
562,  566;  his  negotiation  with  France 
in  1819-1822,  573-575,  579;  his  char- 
acter of  Gallatin,  576,  626,  629,  676  ; 
W.  H.  Crawford's  comments  on,  580, 
584,  586,  588;  Gallatin's  character  of, 
599;  chosen  President,  602,  606;  his 


reasons  for  not  offering  the  Treasury 
to  Gallatin,  609;  on  the  distrust  of  Mr. 
Clay,  609 ;  on  relations  with  England 
in  1827,  624,  625,  627,  628;  his  com- 
ments on  Mr.  Canning,  624,  627,  628  ; 
his  comments  on  men  and  measures, 
636  ;  his  death,  677. 

Adams,  William,  British  commissioner 
at  Ghent,  519,  543 ;  negotiator  of  the 
commercial  convention,  552. 

Addison,  Alexander,  177,  223. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Congress  of,  572. 

Alexander,  Emperor  of  Russia,  invites 
diplomatic  relations  in  1808, 390  ;  offers 
mediation,  477,  498 ;  renews  the  offer, 
498,  503;  causes  misunderstanding, 
503,  510,  511 ;  receives  a  note  from 
Mr.  Crawford,  511 ;  his  conversation 
with  La  Fayette  at  the  house  of  Ma- 
dame de  Stael,  512,  514;  his  visit  to 
London,  514 ;  his  interview  with  Gal- 
latin, 514,  515  ;  his  influence  on  the 
negotiation,  516,  518,  537;  his  friend- 
liness, 553. 

Alien  laws,  202,  204,  206,  274,  320. 

Algerine  powers,  war  with,  300,  306,  307, 
349. 

Allegre,  Sophia,  Gallatin's  first  wife,  her 
family,  69  ;  her  engagement,  70 ;  her 
mother,  70,  71;  her  marriage,  71,  72; 
her  death,  72,  75,  80,  83. 

Allen,  John,  M.C.  from  Connecticut,  on 
the  sedition  law,  207. 

Alston,  Joseph,  reports  of  his  character, 
244,  245. 

Ames,  Fisher,  154;  his  speech  on  Jay's 
treaty,  155,  165,  198 ;  his  opinion  on 
the  use  of  the  army  in  domestic  poli- 
679 


680 


INDEX. 


tics,  170 ;  favors  war  with  France,  184 ; 
his  political  formulas,  199,  214. 

Amory,  scholar  of  Gallatin's  at  Harvard 
College,  43,  59. 

Anderson,  Joseph,  Senator  from  Ten- 
nessee, 429,  484,  490. 

Armstrong,  John,  290,  389,  400;  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  War,  471 ;  his 
conduct,  481 ;  wishes  to  be  commander- 
in-chief,  485  ;  his  account  of  how  he 
ceased  to  be  Secretary  of  War,  530. 

Assumption  of  State  debts,  87,  168. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  455,  477,  488,  588  ; 
on  Gallatin's  rejection  by  the  Senate, 
488,  489  ;  offers  to  take  Gallatin  into 
partnership,  555  ;  his  account  of  Amer- 
ican habits,  584 ;  establishes  the  Na- 
tional Bank  for  Gallatin,  642. 

B. 

Bache,  Franklin,  15. 

Bache,  Richard,  554. 

Bacon,  Ezekiel,  M.C.  from  Massachu- 
setts, 450,  454. 

Badollet,  Jean,  schoolmate  of  Gallatin's, 
15,  16,  64,  120  j  urged  by  Gallatin  to 
come  to  America,  51,  53,  60 ;  comes  to 
George's  Creek,  63,  66;  settles  at 
Greensburgh,  on  the  Monongahela, 
144;  his  opinion  of  Judge  Bracken- 
ridge,  133,  134;  appointed  register  of 
the  land-office  at  Vincennes,  404,  405  ; 
his  struggle  against  the  introduction 
of  slavery  in  Indiana,  404,  406 ;  Galla- 
tin's opinion  of,  610,  646,  647 ;  death 
of  his  wife,  649. 

Baer,  George,  M.C.  from  Maryland,  250, 
262. 

Bainbridge,  Commodore,  462,  466. 

Baldwin,  Abraham,  Senator  from  Geor- 
gia, 253,  302. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  157, 308,  309  ; 
Mr.  Jefferson's  views  regarding,  308, 
321,  665  ;  its  dissolution  in  1811,  416, 
417,  426-430;  rechartered  in  1816, 
429 ;  consequences  of  its  dissolution, 
451,  474,  475 ;  Gallatin  declines  Presi- 
dency of,  578,  583,  584 ;  question  of 
recharter  in  1830-1842,  636,  638,  639, 
651 ;  its  power,  651 ;  rechartered  as 
U.  S.  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  659 ;  op- 


poses return  to  specie  payments,  659, 
660 ;  becomes  bankrupt,  661 ;  Galla- 
tin's views  on  rechartering,  639,  659, 
665,  666. 

Bank,  National  (Gallatin),  of  New  York, 
642,  643,  647,  658,  662. 

Banking,  Gallatin's  writings  on.  (See 
Currency.} 

Baring,  Alexander  (Lord  Ashburton), 
552,  564,  565;  his  relations  with  Gal- 
latin in  the  Louisiana  purchase,  317, 
318;  his  letters  to  Gallatin  on  the 
Russian  mediation,  499,  500,  502, 
504;  his  negotiation  in  1842,  668- 
670  ;  his  opinion  of  Gallatin,  668;  his 
death,  677. 

Barlow,  Joel,  424,  436,  461. 

Bassano,  Duke  de,  Napoleon's  Minister 
of  State,  421. 

Bathurst,  Lord,  his  notes  and  instructions 
to  the  British  commissioners  at  Ghent, 
527 ;  his  offer  of  the  uti  possidetia,  535  ; 
his  instructions  regarding  the  fisheries, 
543. 

Bayard,  James  A.,  M.C.  from  Delaware, 
154,  155,  156,  205,  316,  458,  459;  his 
course  in  the  contested  Presidential 
election  of  1801,  250,  254,  260,  262  ; 
sent  as  envoy  to  Russia,  479,  490,  493, 
495;  goes  with  Gallatin  to  London, 
506  ;  his  influence  in  the  negotiation, 
522,  523  ;  conversation  with  Goulburn, 
524,  525 ;  death,  549. 

Baylies,  Francis,  M.C.  from  Massachu- 
setts, 620,  624,  623. 

Bentley,  William,  tutor  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege, and  clergyman  at  Salem,  43,  69. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  his  defence  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  618. 

Berkeley,  Admiral,  358,  359. 

Bibb,  W.  W.,  M.C.  from  Georgia,  480. 

Biddle,  Nicholas,  637,  660. 

Binns,  John,  439,  442. 

Bledsoe,  Jesse,  Senator  from  Kentucky, 
484. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  381,  383,  399 ;  his 
Berlin,  Milan,  and  Bayonne  decrees, 
374,  376,  567 ;  his  apparent  change  of 
policy  in  1810,  420,  421;  his  secret 
Trianon  decree,  421,  422,  425 ;  suc- 
ceeds in  leading  the  United  States 


INDEX. 


681 


into  war  with  England,  425  ;  anecdote 
of  Count  Romanzoff,  444;  returns  from 
Elba,  547. 

Boston,  55,  68 ;  description  of,  in  1780, 
27,  28,  45  j  Mr.  Clay's  opinion  of,  509. 

Boundary,  North-Eastern,  521,  535,  536, 
614,  621,  627,  628,  629,  630,  631,  667, 
668;  North-Western,  569,  570,  614, 
621,  627,  670,  671. 

Bourdillon,  146,  209,  226. 

Bourse  Gallatin,  5. 

Brackenridge,  Judge  H.  H.,  his  first  meet- 
ing with  Gallatin,  68;  his  character, 
128, 133,  134  ;  his  conduct  at  the  Mingo 
Creek  meeting,  128;  at  Braddock's 
Field,  129, 130  ;  at  Parkinson's  Ferry, 
131,  132;  at  Redstone  Old  Fort,  135- 
137 ;  his  distinction  between  Quakers 
and  Presbyterians,  150  ;  candidate  for 
Congress,  141,  176,  210. 

Braddock's  Field,  rendezvous  at,  129, 130. 

Bradford,  David,  91,  92,  125;  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature,  93 ;  a  tenth- 
rate  lawyer,  96  ;  an  empty  drum,  97  ; 
his  enmity  to  Gallatin,  98 ;  his  course 
at  the  Mingo  Creek  meeting,  128 ; 
causes  the  mail  to  be  seized,  128;  sum- 
mons the  militia  to  Braddock's  Field, 
129 ;  his  course  there,  129 ;  at  the  Par- 
kinson's Ferry  meeting,  131-134;  at 
Redstone  Old  Fort,  135-137  ;  escapes  to 
Louisiana,  138 ;  his  party  defeated,  141. 

Bradford,  William,  441 ;  his  reforms  in 
the  penal  code  of  Pennsylvania,  84. 

Brazier,  Philip,  235,  236. 

Breckenridge,  John,  Attorney-General, 
598. 

Brent,  Richard,  M.C.  from  Virginia,  190, 
317 ;  Senator,  435,  490. 

Broglie,  Duke  de,  563,  564. 

Brooks,  David,  M.C.  from  New  York,  193. 

Burr,  Aaron,  101 ;  speech  on  Jay's  treaty, 
151 ;  distrusts  the  Virginians,  178,  242, 
243,  247;  conducts  the  New  York  City 
election  of  May,  1800,  232,  233,  238 ; 
his  intrigue  and  management,  234, 239 ; 
the  most  eligible  character  for  Vice- 
President,  239 ;  the  agent  of  a  Supreme 
Power,  241 ;  nominated  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  243;  the  election,  244 ;  his  daugh- 
ter's marriage,  244,  245;  his  conduct 


during  the  contest  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  245,  246,  247,  254; 
causes  of  his  schism,  282,  288,  289; 
urges  M.  L.  Davis  for  office,  283,  284, 
289 ;  his  opinion  of  Gallatin,  289 ;  his 
schism,  311,  313,  389. 
Burr,  Theodosia,  her  marriage,  244. 

C. 

Cabell,  Samuel  J.,  M.C.  from  Virginia, 
202. 

Cabot,  George,  112, 199. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  M.C.  from  South  Car- 
olina, 445,  473,  562;  on  Gallatin' s 
character,  576,  577 ;  W.  H.  Crawford's 
comments  on,  580, 581 ;  Gallatin's  opin- 
ion of,  599;  chosen  Vice-President, 
601,  602 ;  on  war  with  France,  655. 

Calvin,  John,  2,  11. 

Campbell,  George  W.,  M.C.  from  Ten- 
nessee, his  report  on  foreign  relations 
in  1808,  378 ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
505. 

Canning,  George,  381,  383,  399;  his  re- 
marks on  the  naval  battles  of  1812, 
171 ;  his  treatment  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
diplomacy,  356 ;  his  management  of 
the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  364;  of 
the  orders  in  council,  364,  365;  his 
success,  367,  368,  411;  his  sarcasms, 
374,  376 ;  his  instructions  to  Erskine, 
392,  393;  disavowal  of  Erskine's  ar- 
rangement, 394;  thrown  out  of  office, 
411;  Foreign  Secretary  in  1826,  614; 
his  orders  in  council  of  1826,  in  regard 
to  the  West  India  trade,  615-617;  his 
motives,  616,  618,  620,  624,  627 ;  Prime 
Minister,  626  ;  his  opinion  of  the  Eng- 
lish constitution,  626  ;  his  death,  626. 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  498,  499 ;  instructions 
to  Lord  Cathcart,  503;  offers  direct 
negotiation,  504;  favorable  to  peace, 
506,  507,  508,  516;  obliged  to  check 
Mr.  Goulburn,  525  ;  favors  delay,  531 ; 
his  influence  in  1818,  569,  618;  his 
death,  614. 

Cathcart,  Lord,  503,  504. 

Caucuses,  party,  214,  595  ;  in  1824,  592, 
594,  595,  596,  597. 

Champagny,  Duke  de  Cadore,  his  letter 
of  August  5,  1810,  420,  421. 


682 


INDEX. 


Chapman,  Maria,  671. 

Chase,  Judge  Samuel,  his  impeachment, 
327;  his  successor,  440. 

Chateaubriand,  Vicomte  de,  French  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Relations,  567. 

Chesapeake,  affair  of,  357,  359,  360. 

Cheves,  Langdon,  M.C.  from  South  Car- 
olina, 445,  472,  473,  475,  476 ;  Presi- 
dent of  the  U.  S.  Bank,  582,  583. 

Circular  to  collectors.  (See  Civil  Service.) 

Citizenship,  Gallatin's,  48,  49,  62,  109, 
111,  112;  statement  of  the  question 
regarding,  119,  120;  adverse  decision, 
120,  121 ;  amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion concerning,  203,  211. 

Civil  service  in  1801,  273;  Gallatin's 
circular  to  collectors,  278,  279. 

Claiborne,  W.  C.  C.,  Governor  of  Louisi- 
ana, 319,  325;  establishes  a  bank  at 
New  Orleans,  322. 

Clare,  Thomas,  55,  62,  71,  99,  120 ;  his 
death,  560. 

Clark,  John,  Governor  of  Georgia,  581. 

Clay,  Henry,  154,  445,  577  ;  opposes  the 
bank  charter  in  1811,  428,  429,  430; 
supports  the  war  policy,  449 ;  forces 
Mr.  Madison  to  recommend  a  dec- 
laration, 456-459 ;  sent  to  negotiate 
treaty  of  peace,  505;  his  views  on  the 
political  situation  and  the  New  Eng- 
land Federalists,  509,  546 ;  his  antago- 
nism to  Mr.  Adams,  520,  522,  544-546 ; 
his  criticisms,  523;  opposes  offer  to 
renew  the  treaty  of  1783  in  regard  to 
the  fisheries  and  the  Mississippi,  541 ; 
carries  a  compromise,  541,  542;  con- 
tinues his  opposition,  544 ;  nettled  by 
the  result,  545;  joined  with  Gallatin 
and  Adams  in  negotiating  commercial 
convention,  548-552;  opposes  Presi- 
dent Monroe,  562;  Gallatin's  opinion 
of,  599,  623 ;  to  be  supported  as  Vice- 
President,  602;  causes  the  election  of 
J.  Q.  Adams,  602;  distrust  felt  to- 
wards him,  608,  609;  offers  Gallatin 
the  post  of  envoy  to  the  Panama  Con- 
gress, 612;  his  note  on  the  colonial 
trade  difficulty,  616,  623;  his  attack 
on  Gallatin  in  1832,  641 ;  his  compro- 
mise, 642. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  282,  471,  562,  577. 


Clinton,  George,  consents  to  be  candidate 
for  the  Assembly,  234,  237;  averse  to 
accepting  the  Vice-Presidency  in  1800, 
239,  242;  recommends  Burr,  242;  cho- 
sen Vice-President,  312  ;  throws  cast- 
ing vote  against  the  bank  charter,  429, 
430;  annoys  Administration,  471,606. 

Clopton,  John,  M.C.  from  Virginia,  202. 

Coast  Survey,  350. 

Cobb,  T.  W.,  M.C.  from  Georgia,  593. 

Coit,  Joshua,  M.C.  from  Connecticut,  202. 

Collectors,  circular  to.  (See  Civil  Service.) 

Colonial  trade,  151,  550,  551,  569,  570, 
571 ;  British  orders  in  council  of  1826, 
615-617  ;  failure  of  negotiations,  617, 
621,  622,  623,  624,  625,  628. 

Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  its  origin, 
157,  172. 

Connecticut,  68  ;  manners,  191. 

Constitution  of  1787,  68,  76,  79,  648  ;  its 
provisions  regarding  eligibility  to  the 
Senate,  119, 120;  its  grants  of  power: 
regarding  a  national  bank,  157;  in- 
ternal improvements,  157  ;  the  making 
of  treaties,  160, 161, 162, 163,  319,  674  ; 
amendment  proposed  regarding  citi- 
zenship, 203,  211,  224;  the  acquisition 
of  territory,  319-321,  674;  its  great 
defect  the  monarchical  principle,  606  ; 
its  guarantees  to  the  slave  power,  673. 

Cooper,  Dr.  Samuel,  15;  obtains  for  Gal- 
latin a  position  as  instructor  in  French 
at  Harvard  College,  38,  39,  42;  joins 
in  giving  him  a  certificate,  43,  44. 

Copenhagen,  495., 

Coxe,  Tench,  228. 

Craik,  William,  M.C.  from  Maryland, 
262. 

Cramer,  Mr.,  9,  11. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  Senator  from 
Georgia,  433,  435,  469 ;  supports  the 
bank  charter  in  1811,  428;  sent  as 
minister  to  France,  509,  510;  attempts 
to  approach  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
511 ;  returns  home  with  Bayard  in 
1815,  552;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
under  Monroe,  559,  562,  566 ;  his  po- 
litical plans,  578,  580;  his  comments 
on  J.  C.  Calhoun,  580,  581;  on  J.  Q. 
Adams,  579,  580  ;  on  William  Lowndes, 
581 ;  on  Henry  Clay,  582 ;  his  bitter- 


INDEX. 


683 


ness,  586  ;  candidate  of  the  triumvirate 
for  the  Presidency,  589,  592,  599; 
struck  by  paralysis,  590,  593,  594 ;  re- 
proached with  intrigue,  597 ;  offered 
the  Treasury  hy  J.  Q.  Adams,  607. 

Cumberland  Road.  (See  Internal  Im- 
provements.) 

Currency,  Gallatin's  opinions  on,  638, 
664;  his  essays  on,  638,  647,  648,  662, 
664,  665. 

Curtius.     (See  John  Thompson.) 

D. 

Dallas,  Alexander  J.,  245, 259,  281,  312; 
comes  to  America  in  1783,  67;  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  Pennsylvania,  86 ;  his 
intimacy  with  Gallatin,  99,  109,  113, 
303;  his  part  in  the  whiskey  campaign, 
142,  143;  on  Pennsylvania  politics, 
326,  328,  330,  333,  439;  on  the  im- 
peachment of  the  judges,  327;  of- 
fered the  chief-justiceship  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 333 ;  on  the  last  year  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  Presidency,  372 ;  re- 
charters  the  U.  S.  Bank,  429 ;  on  the 
succession  to  Justice  Chase,  440-442 ; 
imposes  war  taxes,  468 ;  on  Gallatin's 
rejection  by  the  Senate,  479;  retires 
from  the  Treasury,  557;  differs  from 
Gallatin  on  returning  to  specie  pay- 
ments, 657. 

Dallas,  George  M.,  493 ;  sent  to  England, 
502. 

Dana,  Samuel,  M.C.  from  Connecticut, 
154,  155,  156,  185,  205;  the  most  elo- 
quent man  in  Congress,  188. 

Davis,  Matthew  L.,  228;  editor  of  the 
Time-Piece,  197;  Burr's  most  active 
friend,  232  ;  presses  him  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  239,  240;  candidate  for 
the  post  of  naval  officer,  282,  283; 
goes  to  Monticello,  284,  287;  his  re- 
jection a  declaration  of  war  on  Burr, 
288. 

Davy,  Albert,  666. 

Dayton,  Jonathan,  M.C.  from  New  Jer- 
sey, speech  on  sequestering  British 
debts,  121;  Speaker,  191,  192,  202. 

Dearborn,  Henry,  Secretary  of  War,  265, 
274,  303,  345,  373;  his  character,  276; 
general,  485. 


Debt,  public.     (See  Finances.) 

Degen  and  Purviance,  navy  agents  at 
Leghorn,  400-403. 

Democracy,  its  dogmas  in  1801,  270, 
272,  655,  666. 

Dennis,  John,  M.C.  from  Maryland,  262. 

De  Stael,  Mme.,  563 ;  La  Fayette's  inter- 
view with  the  Emperor  at  her  house, 
513 ;  on  the  negotiations  at  Ghent,  531, 
532 ;  her  death,  566. 

Dexter,  Samuel,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, 258,  265,  277. 

Drayton,  William,  M.C.  from  South  Caro- 
lina, 642. 

Duane,  William,  editor  of  the  Aurora, 
Treasury  books  in  his  hands,  258 ; 
urges  removals  from  office,  277,  278, 
281 ;  cause  of  his  hostility  to  Gallatin, 
281,  311,  331;  his  schism,  311,  312, 
326,  328,  329,  330,  331;  his  war  on 
Gallatin,  322,  329,  388,  400,  414,  417, 
419,  427,  437,  439,  442,  558 ;  account  of, 
by  J.  Q.  Adams,  442;  his  treatment 
by  Jefferson  and  Madison,  443,  483. 

Dumont,  Etienne,  schoolmate  of  Galla- 
tin's, 16,  52,  289,  519. 

D'Yvernois,  144,  145,  146. 

E. 

Edgar,  James,  136,  176. 

Education,  84,  90 ;  Mr.  Jefferson's  scheme 
for  a  national  university,  350;  Gal- 
latin's scheme  for  a  popular  university, 
648. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  112,  228,  486. 

Embargo  decided  upon,  366;  Gallatin's 
opinion  on,  366,  370-372,  375,  622; 
Jefferson's  opinions  on,  367,  368,  369  ; 
adopted,  369 ;  amended,  369 ;  effects 
of,  370,  412;  Robert  Smith's  opinion 
on,  373;  Enforcement  Act,  378,  379; 
repeal  of,  375,  380,  382,  383 ;  to  give 
place  to  war,  383,  384,  385 ;  removed, 
386. 

England,  her  political  condition  in  1789, 
71;  her  conduct  towards  America  in 
1793,  104,  112;  Jay's  treaty,  158-166; 
the  danger  of  war,  165,  169;  relations 
with,  in  1798,224;  in  1801,  255;  in 
1805,  334;  revival  of  the  rule  of  1756, 
348 ;  Monroe  and  Pinkney's  treaty, 


684 


INDEX. 


355,  356 ;  her  change  of  policy  in  1807, 
356;  affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  357- 
362,  364  ;  orders  in  council,  364,  365, 
366,  367,  374,  376,  378,  393,  460,  472; 
Rose's  mission,  364,  367,  394,  397; 
Erskine's  arrangement,  392,  393  ;  dis- 
avowed, 394,  396;  Jackson's  mission, 
394,  396,  411 ;  proposed  Navigation  Act 
against,  413,  414 ;  Macon's  Act,  416  ; 
her  refusal  to  withdraw  the  orders  in 
council,  425,  444;  approach  of  war, 
444,  460 ;  refuses  Russian  mediation, 
497,  499,  500,  503 ;  offers  direct  nego- 
tiation, 504;  refuses  concessions  on 
impressment,  506;  her  attempts  to 
isolate  the  United  States,  499,  511, 
513,  514;  her  position  in  Europe,  517, 
518  (see  Ghent,  Negotiations  at) ;  com- 
mercial convention  of  1815,  551,  614, 
626;  negotiations  of  1818,  570-572 
(see  Colonial  Trade,  Fisheries,  Mis- 
sissippi, Impressments);  negotiations  of 
1826-27,  612-629  (see  Colonial  Trade, 
Boundary) ;  disposition  towards  Amer- 
ica, 508,  618,  620,  621,  622,  624,  625, 
627,  628 ;  character  of  English  diplo- 
macy, 622. 

Eppes,  John  W.,  M.C.  from  Virginia, 
480. 

Erskine,  David  M.,  British  minister, 
358,  359,  381 ;  his  relations  with  Gal- 
latin,  381,  395,  418;  his  wish  to  recon- 
cile, 381,  382 ;  his  arrangement,  392- 
394;  disavowed,  394,  396;  his  de- 
spatches, 418. 

Escalade,  the,  4,  30. 

Ethnological  Society,  645. 

Ethnology.     (See  Indian  Ethnology.) 

Eustis,  William,  Secretary  of  War,  395, 
440,  462,  469;  his  administration  of 
the  War  Department,  467,  468,  469, 
470  ;  his  resignation,  470 ;  minister  to 
the  Netherlands,  568. 

Everett,  Alexander,  587. 

Everett,  Edward,  655. 

Excise,  resolutions  on,  by  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature,  88 ;  causes  of  hos- 
tility to,  88;  Washington  resolutions 
on,  89;  Pittsburg  resolutions  on,  91, 
123 ;  their  effect,  93,  94 ;  resistance  to 
the  law  previous  to  the  insurrection, 


123,  124;  its  repeal  in  1801-2,  274; 
reimposition  in  the  war  of  1812,  452, 
453. 

F. 

Fauchet,  Joseph,  French  Minister,  188. 

Fayette  County,  55,  58,  62,  73,  75,  90, 
108,  109,  113,  121,  122;  its  obedience 
to  the  excise  law,  124;  disturbed  by 
rioters,  130,  138  ;  insurrection  in,  148, 
149. 

Federalist  party,  155,  156,  159, 161,  165, 
169,  175,  178,  184,  199,  203,  206,  211, 
215,  221,  223,  228,  232,  265,  266,  272, 
274,  277,  280,  281,  373,  379,  394,  414; 
its  success,  273,  274 ;  schism  in,  221 ; 
plans  in  1801,  254,  257,  259,  262,  263  ; 
disorganized,  398 ;  conduct  in  the  war, 
477,  483,  484. 

Few,  William,  Senator  from  Georgia, 
Gallatin's  brother-in-law,  101. 

Finances,  167 ;  of  the  United  States  in 
1796,  157,  168,  169,  173,  174;  in  1800, 
243;  in  1801,  291-293;  in  1802,  305, 
306;  in  1803,  318,  319;  in  1804,  327; 
in  1805,  348;  in  1806,  348,  349;  in 
1808,382;  in  1809,  412;  in  1811,445, 
446 ;  management  of,  by  the  Federal- 
ists, 273,  274;  national  debt,  its  ori- 
gin, 168,  169;  its  amount  in  1796,  168, 
173;  in  1800,  243;  addition  to,  in  1803, 
318;  reduction  in  1806,  348;  its  con- 
dition in  1811,  446 ;  its  payment  the 
great  dogma  of  the  Democratic  princi- 
ple, 270,  276,  354,  407,  410,  655,  656  ; 
Gallatin's  "fundamental  substantial 
measure,"  293,  295,  296,  297,  318; 
Mr.  Hamilton's  sinking  fund,  173, 174, 
229,  230,  231,  296 ;  ultimate  discharge 
of  the  debt  and  its  consequences,  655, 
656;  direct  tax,  181;  reduction  of  taxa- 
tion a  dogma  of  Democracy,  270,  276  ; 
internal  taxes,  removed  in  1801-2,  270, 
291,  293,  295 ;  restored  in  the  war  of 

1812,  452,  453 ;  Mediterranean  Fund, 
295,    318,    319,   336,    349,   412,   446; 
loans,  447,  452,  473;  in  1812,  454;  in 

1813,  477;  war  taxes,  451,  452,  454, 
475,  480  ;  threatened  collapse  in  1812, 
474;   suspension  of  specie  payments 
in    1814,553,556,561,657;    in  1837, 
657;  resumption  in  1838,  658-662. 


INDEX. 


G85 


Findley,  William,  92,  136,  176,  177,  222, 
323,  453. 

Fisheries,  nature  of  the  question  at 
Ghent,  540,  541;  disputes  in  the 
American  commission,  541,  542,  544 ; 
doubts  on  the  British  side,  542,  543 ; 
omitted  from  the  treaty,  545 ;  settle- 
ment in  1818,  571  ,•  Gallatin's  opinion 
of,  572. 

Fisk,  James,  M.C.  from  Vermont,  456. 

Florida,  proposed  purchase  of,  in  1805, 
336,  337, 339,  341 ;  cession  of,  in  1819, 
572,  673. 

Foster,  Augustus,  British  minister,  444. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  355. 

France,  her  conduct  towards  Geneva,  52; 
her  cause  in  1793,  104,  110,  112;  how 
affected  by  Jay's  treaty,  158,  166, 178, 
186;  relations  with,  in  May,  1797, 
184;  in  1798,  189,  195,  196,  199,  200, 
201,  214;  in  1801,  254,  255,  273; 
treaty  rejected,  258  ;  ratified,  259;  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  300  ;  her  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  307 ;  sells  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States,  308,  334;  her  Berlin 
and  Milan  decrees,  355,  364,  374,  376, 
378,  422;  Macon's  Act,  416;  its  effect 
on  French  policy,  419,  420,  421,  444; 
her  secret  Trianon  decree,  422;  her 
Rambouillet  decree,  421,  423,  424;  in- 
demnity asked  of  her,  444;  negotia- 
tions on,  567,  568,  655 ;  court  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  563 ;  commercial  negotiations 
and  treaty,  1819-1822,  573-575,  579, 
582;  case  of  the  Apollon  and  Alliga- 
tor, 575,  576,  579 ;  threatened  rupture 
with,  in  1835,  655. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  15,  24,  38,  519,  520, 
567. 

Free  trade,  640;  memorial,  640. 

Freneau,  Philip,  197. 

Friendship  Hill,  63,  589,  590,  610. 


G. 

Gaddis,  147,  148. 

Gailliard,  John,  Senator  from  South 
Carolina,  484. 

Gallatin,  Abraham,  of  Pregny,  grand- 
father of  Albert  Gallatin,  5,  10,  64; 
his  death,  94. 


Gallatin,  Albert,  his  origin  and  family, 
1-5;  his  birth,  9,  10;  his  education, 
10-15;  graduates  from  college,  16; 
refuses  a  commission  in  the  Hessian 
service,  17;  secretly  quits  Geneva, 
17,  18;  writes  from  Pimboeuf,  23; 
lands  at  Gloucester,  26,  27 ;  arrives  at 
Boston,  26,  27,  35;  his  account  of 
Boston  in  1780,  27,  28 ;  his  voyage  to 
Machias,  30,  32,  36;  his  life  at  Ma- 
chias,  33-37,  40 ;  returns  to  Boston, 
38;  instructor  in  French  at  Harvard 
College,  39, 42, 43,  70 ;  departs  to  Phila- 
delphia, 44;  associates  himself  with 
Savary  in  land  speculations,  46,  50, 
53,  59,  60,  61,  70 ;  his  political  opin- 
ions in  1783,  47-49,  51,  52 ;  decides  to 
become  an  American  citizen,  48,  49 ; 
goes  to  Richmond,  53,  54;  his  first  ex- 
pedition to  the  Ohio,  54,  55;  his  first 
meeting  with  General  Washington, 
56-59 ;  brings  Badollet  to  America,  60 ; 
his  second  expedition  to  the  Ohio,  61, 
62;  attempts  to  settle  there,  62;  be- 
comes a  citizen  of  Virginia,  62 ;  leases 
land  at  George's  Creek,  62 ;  returns  to 
Richmond,  63 ;  buys  Friendship  Hill, 
63  ;  rumor  of  his  death,  65;  his  indo- 
lence, 22,  65,  73 ;  his  awkwardness,  103 ; 
attains  his  majority,  65;  his  life  at 
George's  Creek,  66,  67;  result  of  his 
land  speculations,  67;  makes  a  winter 
expedition  to  Maine,  68,  69;  falls  in 
love  with  Sophia  Allegre,  69,  70,  71  ; 
his  first  marriage,  71,  72;  death  of  his 
wife,  72,  75,  80;  meditates  returning 
to  Geneva,  73,  75 ;  his  political  tend- 
encies, 76,  77 ;  attends  the  Harrisburg 
conference,  77 ;  his  draft  of  report,  78 ; 
opposes  the  calling  of  the  convention 
of  1789  to  revise  the  State  constitu- 
tion of  Pennsylvania,  79,  80 ;  becomes 
a  member  of  it,  80 ;  his  share  in  its 
proceedings,  81,  83 ;  is  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature,  83;  his  share  in 
legislation,  84-86,  89,  90,  95 ;  his  re- 
port in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
86;  his  resolutions  on  the  excise,  87, 
88 ;  his  report  on  the  finances  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 85;  his  plan  for  a  county 
school  system,  84,  90 ;  for  county  tax- 


686 


INDEX. 


ation,  91,  97  j  elected  Senator,  86,  95, 
96,  97,  98 ;  clerk  of  the  Pittsburg  meet- 
ing of  August,  1792,  91,  92;  his  re- 
sponsibility for  the  resolutions,  92 ; 
his  opinion  of  them,  92,  93,  94 ;  his  in- 
heritance, 66,  94;  question  as  to  his 
citizenship,  98 ;  falls  in  love  with  Han- 
nah Nicholson,  99,  102 ;  his  views  on 
European  politics  in  1793,  104,  110, 
112;  his  marriage,  108;  his  election 
as  Senator  disputed,  109,  111,  113; 
takes  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  110,  112; 
goes  into  business,  113,  152,  153,  175, 
176,  221,  226;  his  action  as  Senator, 
114;  his  call  for  financial  statements 
from  the  Treasury,  115;  declared  in- 
eligible to  the  Senate,  119,  120,  121  ; 
sells  western  lands  to  Robert  Morris, 
121,  122,  179;  returns  to  George's 
Creek,  123;  attends  meeting  at  Union- 
town  on  outbreak  of  insurrection,  124 ; 
attends  meeting  at  Parkinson's  Ferry, 
130,  131,  132,  133,  134,  135;  at  Red- 
stone Old  Fort,  135-137;  urges  that 
the  army  should  not  march,  138 ;  elected 
to  Congress,  140;  returns  to  the  As- 
sembly, 141 ;  election  disputed,  141, 
143,  and  annulled,  142;  his  speech  on 
the  occasion,  141,  142  ;  his  re-election, 
142,  144;  his  scheme  for  emigration 
from  Geneva,  144,  145,  146,  150,  151  ; 
his  opinion  of  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania society,  146,  147;  of  Jay's 
treaty,  151;  enters  Congress,  154;  his 
account  of  his  Congressional  service, 
155-157;  his  speeches  on  Jay's  treaty, 
155,  156,  161,  162,  163,  165,  166 ;  his 
views  on  constitutional  construction, 
157,  205;  Executive  encroachments, 
157;  specific  appropriations,  157,  180, 
299;  the  finances  in  1796,  157,  169, 
173,  174;  originates  the  standing  com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means,  157,  172; 
his  views  on  the  navy,  157,  170,  171, 
172,  180,  217,  218,  229,  334,  335;  his 
share  in  originating  the  land-system, 
167,  297,  298 ;  his  financial  principles 
compared  with  Hamilton's,  169,  174, 
175;  re-elected  to  Congress,  176-178; 
birth  of  his  eldest  son,  179,  180,  181, 
182;  on  the  political  situation  in  1797, 


183, 185, 187;  his  opinion  of  Washing, 
ton,  182 ;  of  John  Adams,  265,  266 ;  the 
political  situation  in  1798,  189,  190, 
195,  196,  199,  200,  201,  202,  203,  223, 
224;  on  foreign  intercourse,  189,  195, 
197,  198,  611;  on  the  alien  bill,  205, 
219,  220  ;  on  the  sedition  bill,  207,  208, 
219;  on  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from 
the  Southwestern  Territory,  209;  re- 
elected  to  Congress,  210 ;  his  character 
described  by  Curtius,  213 ;  his  nation- 
ality of  character,  214;  on  R.  G.  Har- 
per, 216,  217;  state  of  his  affairs,  222, 
225;  on  the  political  situation  in  1799, 
226,  227,  228 ;  on  a  sinking  fund,  230, 
231,  296;  on  John  Marshall's  argu- 
ment in  the  case  of  Jonathan  Robbins, 
232;  on  the  New  York  City  election 
of  1800,  240,  241 ;  on  the  finances  in 
1800,  243 ;  his  account  of  the  Jefferson- 
Burr  contest  in  1801,  248-251,  253- 
262 ;  his  plan  in  the  event  of  usurpa- 
tion, 248,  251,  254,  255,  256;  his  de- 
scription of  Washington  in  1801,  252, 
253 ;  named  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, 258,  259 ;  nomination  communi- 
cated by  Mr.  Jefferson,  263;  fears  of 
rejection  by  the  Senate,  264,  265,  276; 
his  position  compared  with  that  of 
Hamilton,  268,  269;  his  views  on  the 
objects  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  Administra- 
tion, 269-271;  his  opposition  to  re- 
movals from  office,  277,  279,  280,  285, 
286,  290;  his  circular  to  collectors, 
278;  on  M.  L/ Davis,  285,  286;  on 
Burr's  political  position  in  1801,  287, 
288,  289;  on  the  succession  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  287,  288 ;  his  "  fundamental 
substantial  measure"  regarding  reduc- 
tion of  debt,  292-295,  296,  297;  his 
notes  on  the  finances  in  1801,  292; 
his  complaints  of  bad  administration 
in  the  navy,  294 ;  his  views  on  removal 
of  internal  taxes,  291,  293,  295;  on 
internal  improvements,  85,  86,  157, 
167,  299;  his  portrait  by  Stuart,  301  j 
his  house  in  Washington,  302  ;  his  ac- 
count of  a  public  dinner  at  the  navy- 
yard,  304;  on  the  finances  in  1802, 
305;  on  dry -docks,  305;  on  the  U.  S. 
Bank,  309  ;  on  the  occupation  of  Lou- 


INDEX. 


687 


isiana,  319 ;  on  the  constitutional  right 
to  acquire  territory,  319;  his  descrip- 
tion of  Humboldt,  323;  his  relations 
with  John  Randolph,  314,  324,  328, 
329,  339,  340,  341,  342,  344;  on  Penn- 
sylvania politics,  330,  331 ;  on  relations 
with  Spain,  334,  335  j  on  the  political 
dissensions  of  1806,  345-347;  on  the 
finances  in  1806,  349 ;  on  internal  im- 
provements, 350-352;  on  gun-boats, 
352-354;  on  the  affair  of  the  Chesa- 
peake and  war  with  England,  357- 
359,  361,  362 ;  one  mbargoes,  366 ;  on 
enforcing  the  embargo  law,  370-372, 
373,  374,  375  ;  on  the  attitude  of  Eng- 
land and  France,  374-376 ;  urges  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  settle  a  policy,  377,  378; 
drafts  "Campbell's  Report,"  378  ;  his 
war  policy,  380,  382,  383,  384,  385, 
386,  392 ;  his  relations  with  Erskine, 
381,  395,  418,  419;  chosen  by  Mr. 
Madison  to  be  his  Secretary  of  State, 
383,  388-391;  on  the  navy  coalition 
of  1809,  387,  388 ;  meditates  resigna- 
tion, 392,  403,  408-410;  on  the  dis- 
avowal of  Erskine's  arrangement,  396 ; 
his  political  position  in  1809,  398,  399-; 
on  the  bills  of  exchange  drawn  by 
Smith  <fc  Buchanan,  402,  403 ;  on  the 
tendency  to  extravagance  in  Mr.  Mad- 
ison's Administration,  410;  his  report 
for  1809,  412,  413 ;  favors  continuation 
of  the  bank,  416,  417,  426,  451 ;  makes 
a  report  on  domestic  manufactures, 
417;  on  Mr.  Jefferson's  alleged  par- 
tiality to  France,  418,  419 ;  on  the  at- 
tacks of  the  Aurora,  419 ;  on  Napo- 
leon's secret  Trianon  decree,  422 ;  his 
letter  of  resignation  in  1811,  434; 
Duane's  character  of,  437,  438 ;  thirsts 
for  obscurity,  440 ;  his  feelings  regard- 
ing Duane,  443,  483 ;  on  the  finances 
in  1811,  446,  447 ;  on  loans,  447 ,-  his 
views  on  war  taxes,  450-452 ;  on  the 
war  policy,  450,  455,  461 ;  his  alleged 
wish  to  lay  up  the  frigates,  462-466; 
wishes  to  reorganize  the  Cabinet,  469, 
470;  on  remission  of  forfeitures,  473; 
requests  to  be  sent  to  Russia,  477 ;  his 
motives,  478 ;  on  the  occupation  of 
Florida,  481 ;  on  the  Russian  media- 


tion, 482 ;  his  rejection  by  the  Senate, 
483-491,  501 ;  his  system  of  adminis- 
tration, 491,  492;  sails  for  St.  Peters- 
burg, 493 ;  arrives  at  Gottenburg,  494  ; 
at  Copenhagen,  495  ;  at  St.  Petersburg, 
495  ;  effect  of  his  arrival,  498 ;  corre- 
spondence with  Gen.  Moreau,  499,  501, 
509 ;  with  Alexander  Baring,  499,  500, 
502,  504;  recognized  by  the  Emperor 
and  rejected  by  the  Senate,  501 ;  de- 
termines on  going  to  England,  502; 
quits  St.  Petersburg,  505;  arrives  at 
Amsterdam,  505,  and  in  London,  506; 
appointed  member  of  commission  to 
negotiate  directly,  505,  508;  super- 
intends diplomatic  operations,  505; 
changes  negotiation  from  Gottenburg 
to  Ghent,  506,  507,  509 ;  his  views  on 
the  political  situation,  507,  517;  at- 
tempts to  win  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
499,  509,  510;  his  interview  with  the 
Emperor,  514,  515;  meets  Dumont 
and  Bentham,  519;  arrives  at  Ghent, 
518;  delicacy  of  his  ground  there, 
522;  expects  the  negotiation  to  fail, 
523,  524;  ascendency  over  the  mis- 
sion, 528;  on  the  financial  outlook, 
533 ;  draws  article  offering  to  confirm 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1783 
regarding  the  fisheries  and  the  Missis- 
sippi, 541 ;  accepts  Mr.  Clay's  com- 
promise, 542 ;  offers  an  article  to  con- 
tinue the  liberty  of  taking  fish,  544; 
carries  an  article  referring  the  subject 
to  future  negotiation,  544 ;  his  delicate 
management,  545 ;  the  treaty  his  spe- 
cial triumph,  546 ;  visits  Geneva,  547, 
598 ;  returns  to  Paris,  547 ;  appointed 
minister  to  France,  548 ;  negotiates 
commercial  convention  with  England, 
551 ;  returns  to  America,  553 ;  on  the 
situation  of  America  and  Europe  in 
1815,  553,  554;  declines  mission  to 
France,  554 ;  declines  nomination  to 
Congress,.  554;  declines  offer  of  part- 
nership with  Mr.  Astor,  555  ;  declines 
the  Treasury,  558,  559;  reconsiders 
and  accepts  mission  to  France,  556, 
557 ;  urges  return  to  specie  payments, 
556,  561 ;  his  residence  in  Paris,  561, 
562,  563,  564,  565 ;  his  axrival  there, 


688 


INDEX. 


562;  his  opinion  of  Talleyrand,  564; 
Ms  negotiation  for  indemnities,  567, 
568  ;  for  a  commercial  treaty  with  the 
Netherlands,  568 ;  his  negotiations 
with  England  in  1818,  568-572;  his 
opinion  of  the  fisheries  convention, 
572 ;  his  share  in  the  commercial  ne- 
gotiations with  France,  573-575,  577 ; 
his  argument  in  the  case  of  the  Apol- 
lon,  575,  576 ;  character  of,  by  J.  Q. 
Adams  and  J.  C.  Calhoun,  576,  577, 
676 ;  declines  the  presidency  of  the 
U.  S.  Bank,  578 ;  decides  to  return  to 
New  Geneva,  578  ;  returns  to  America, 
584-586,  588 ;  supports  Mr.  Crawford 
for  the  Presidency,  589,  590  ;  descrip- 
tion of  Friendship  Hill,  589,  590; 
nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency, 
591,  592,  594;  his  reasons  for  accept- 
ing, 598-600;  his  account  of  Mr. 
Crawford's  character,  598;  of  Gen. 
Jackson,  599 ;  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  599  ; 
of  J.  Q.  Adams,  599 ;  of  Mr.  Clay, 
599,  623;  of  Genevan  affairs,  600, 
601 ;  withdraws  from  the  contest,  602, 
604,  605,  606 ;  his  attitude  towards  J. 
Q.  Adams,  607,  608;  entertains  La 
Fayette,  611,  612 ;  offered  appointment 
as  envoy  to  the  Panama  Congress,  612 ; 
appointed  minister  to  London,  612, 
613;  arrives  in  London,  613;  subjects 
of  negotiation,  614;  his  notes  on  co- 
lonial intercourse,  616,  617  ;  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  paraphrase  of  his  despatch, 
618;  his  explanations  of  Mr.  Can- 
ning's hostility,  620,  624 ;  his  opinion 
of  English  and  French  diplomacy, 
622 ;  his  conciliatory  management, 
626,  628,  629 ;  his  treaties  of  1827, 
626,  627;  prepares  statement  of  the 
argument  on  the  North-Eastern  bound- 
ary, 629,  633;  his  views  on  politics 
in  1828-9,  630,  631,  633,  634;  would 
accept  mission  to  France  in  1829,  632, 
633 ;  disapproves  removals  from  office, 
633,  634;  on  quitting  public  life,  634; 
publishes  his  first  essay  on  banks  and 
currency,  637,  638,  647 ;  his  attitude 
regarding  the  U.  S.  Bank,  638,  639, 
651,  665,  666 ;  composes  the  free-trade 
memorial,  640,  642 ;  attacked  by  Mr. 


Clay,  641 ;  becomes  president  of  the 
National  Bank,  643,  647,  652 ;  resigns, 
662;  his  ethnological  writings,  643- 

645,  652 ;  tries  to  establish  a  popular 
university,  648;  on  politics  in  1833, 
648,  649;  in  1834,  650;  favors  annual 
Presidency,  650;  on  American  society, 

646,  650,  651,  653,  663,  664;    on  uni- 
versal suffrage,  654;  his  share  in  the 
resumption   of   specie    payments    in 
1838,   657-662;    his  second  essay  on 
banks   and   currency,  662,  663,  664, 
665 ;  asked  by  President  Tyler  to  take 
the  Treasury  Department,   666,  667; 
republishes  his  argument  on  the  North- 
Eastern    boundary,    668;    Alexander 
Baring's    opinion   of    him,    668;    his 
views  on  the  Ashburton  negotiation, 
670 ;  his  pamphlet  on  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion, 671 ;  his   speech  on  the  annex- 
ation of  Texas,  670-675 ;  J.  Q.  Adams's 
remarks    regarding     him,    676 ;    his 
pamphlet  on  peace  with  Mexico,  677 ; 
his  religious  opinions,  678  ;  his  death, 
678. 

Gallatin,  Mrs.  Albert.  (See  Allegre, 
Sophia,  and  Nicholson,  Hannah.) 

Gallatin,  James,  179,  180,  316,  480,  493, 
606,  607,  608,  610,  632,  650;  his  son, 
650,  667. 

Gallatin,  Jean,  enrolled  as  citizen  of 
Geneva  in  1510,  2. 

Gallatin,  Jean,  father  of  Albert  Gallatin, 
9  ;  his  death,  10. 

Gallatin,  Paul  Michel,  Albert's  guar- 
dian, 19-22. 

Gallatin,  Pierre,  Count  de,  Wiirtemberg 
minister  at  Paris,  3,  563. 

Gallatin-Rolaz,  Mine.,  mother  of  Albert 
Gallatin,  7,  9,  10. 

Gallatin- Vaudenet,  Mme.,  grandmother 
of  Albert  Gallatin,  5,  16;  Voltaire's 
notes  to,  6,  7;  her  figs,  6,  7;  her  chil- 
dren, 9;  gives  her  grandson  a  "cuff," 
17  ;  her  decline,  94. 

Gambier,  Lord,  British  commissioner  at 
Ghent,  519. 

Genet,  Edmund,  French  minister,  86, 104, 
111. 

Geneva,  its  government,  3;  its  society, 
5,  10,  11,  15,  40;  its  academy,  11-15; 


INDEX. 


689 


its  politics,  28,  33,  46,  47,  48,  51,  52,  73, 
75,96,97,  144,  145,  199;  emigration 
from,  145, 146, 150 ;  condition  in  1814, 
531;  revisited  by  Gallatin  in  1815, 
547;  his  account  of,  600,  601. 

George  IV.,  650. 

George's  Creek,  55,  56,  58,  59,  66,  68,  69, 
72,  123. 

Georgetown,  253,  259,  530. 

German,  Obadiah,  Senator  from  New 
York,  484. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  nominated  envoy  to 
France,  185 ;  vote  on  his  confirmation, 
185. 

Ghent,  negotiations  at :  meeting  of  the 
commissioners,  519;  American  terms 
of  peace,  520 ;  British  terms,  520,  521  ; 
Indian  sovereignty,  521,  527;  antago- 
nisms among  the  American  commis- 
sioners, 520,  521,  522,  523;  expected 
failure  of  the  negotiation,  523,  524, 525, 
526;  first  modification  of  the  British 
terms,  526,  527 ;  effect  on  the  American 
commissioners,  527,  528;  settlement  of 
the  Indian  question,  535;  British  offer 
of  the  basis  of  uti  possidetis,  535,  536 ; 
rejected,  536;  effect  of  the  rejection, 
536-538 ;  negotiation  considered  at  an 
end,  536,  537;  interposition  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  538,  539 ;  second 
modification  of  the  British  terms,  539, 
540;  articles  on  impressment,  blockade, 
and  indemnities,  540 ;  struggles  over 
the  fisheries  and  the  Mississippi,  540- 
545;  signature  of  the  treaty,  546;  the 
treaty  peculiarly  a  triumph  of  Mr. 
Gallatin,  546;  Castlereagh's  opinion 
of,  546. 

Giles,  William  B.,  154,  156,  298,  678; 
leaves  Congress  in  1798,  202;  favors 
war  in  1808,  376;  opposes  Gallatin's 
appointment  as  Secretary  of  State,  388, 
389,  401 ;  opposes  the  bank  charter, 
427,  428,  429 ;  his  taunts  at  Gallatin, 
448,  449 ;  opposes  Gallatin's  confirma- 
tion to  Russia,  .484,  490  ;  thought  of 
for  President  of  the  Senate,  485. 

Gilman,  Nicholas,  Senator  from  New 
Hampshire,  484. 

Girard,  Stephen,  477. 

Glass,  manufacture  of,  176. 


44 


Goodhue,  Benjamin,  Senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts, 185. 

Goodrich,  Chauncy,  M.C.  from  Connecti- 
cut, his  speech  for  Jay's  treaty  the 
best,  155. 

Gottenburg,  493,  494,  495. 

Goulburn,  Henry,  British  commissioner 
at  Ghent,  519  ;  his  reports  of  the  Ghent 
negotiations,  524,  525,  534,  535,  545 ; 
checked  by  his  chiefs,  525,  526  ;  his 
mortification,  540  ;  his  views  on  the 
fisheries,  543,  545  ;  negotiates  commer- 
cial convention,  550. 

Granger,  Gideon,  329,  429. 

Granges,  estate  in  Bugey,  1,  2. 

Greenville,  treaty  of,  521. 

Griswold,  Roger,  M.C.  from  Connecticut, 
154;  his  speech  on  Jay's  treaty,  155, 
162, 163 ;  his  altercation  with  Matthew 
Lyon,  191-193,  194,  195 ;  his  political 
opinions,  192,  199,  214,  249;  nomi- 
nated Secretary  of  War,  258 ;  his  at- 
tack on  Gallatin  in  1803,  309,  314, 315. 

Grundy,  Felix,  M.C.  from  Tennessee, 
445,  457. 

Gun-boats,  Gallatin's  views  on,  352,  353  ; 
Mr.  Jefferson's  views  on,  353,  354;  re- 
sults of,  354. 

Gurney,  Francis,  85,  88. 


H. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  67,  101,  106,  120, 
153,  154,  202,  320;  his  financial  pol- 
icy, 87  ;  regarding  excise,  89;  his  jeal- 
ousy of  control,  114;  his  letter  on  calls 
for  financial  information,  116,  117;  his 
course  in  regard  to  the  whiskey  rebel- 
lion, 139,  140,  141 ;  his  antagonism  to 
Jefferson,  159, 170;  his  financial  prin- 
ciples, 167, 168, 169  ;  his  sinking  fund, 
173,  174,  296;  his  reduction  of  debt, 
174;  his  political  formulas,  199 ;  com- 
mander of  the  army,  211 ;  his  state- 
ment of  the  political  situation  in  1798, 
223;  pitted  against  Burr  in  1800,  232, 
242 ;  active  in  the  New  York  City  elec- 
tion of  1800,  233;  fears  Burr's  influ- 
ence, 234;  not  present  at  the  nomina- 
ting caucus,  235 ;  opposed  to  making 
Burr  President,  254;  the  vigor  and 


690 


INDEX. 


capacity  of  his  mind,  268 ;  compared 
with  Gallatin,  268,  269. 
Hamilton,  Paul,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
his  report  on  gun-boats,  353,  354;  his 
administration  of  the  navy,  462,  467 ; 
Gallatin's  remarks  on,  463  ;  his  cruis- 
ing orders,  465;  his  resignation,  470. 
Hamilton,  Dr.  Robert,  his  work  on  the 

British  National  Debt,  230. 
Hanson,  A.  C.,  M.C.  from  Maryland,  457, 

530. 

Harper,  R.  G.,  M.C.  from  South  Carolina, 
154,  155,  156,  201,  202;  his  qualities, 
188 ;  chairman  of  Ways  and  Means, 
188 ;  remarks  on  "  the  plot,"  205,  207  ; 
on  the  alien   and   sedition  bills,  205, 
207,  208;   on   Gallatin's   glass  house, 
216;    on  the   sinking    fund   and  the 
debt,  218,  229,  230. 
Harris,  Levett,  514. 
Harrisburg,  conference  at,  77-79. 
Harrison,  William  H.,  Governor  of  the 
Indiana  Territory,  404;  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  653. 

Harvard  College  appoints  Gallatin  in- 
structor in  French,  42. 
Henry,  John,  his  discoveries,  455. 
Henry,   John,   Governor  of    Maryland, 

224. 

Henry,  Patrick,  his  letter  of  introduc- 
tion for  Gallatin,  59,  60 ;  nominated 
minister  to  France,  228. 
Hesse-Cassel,  the  Landgrave  of,  7,  8,  9, 
16;  letter  to  Mme.  Gallatin-Vaude- 
net,  9. 

Hispaniola,  109. 
Hull,  General,  his  surrender,  468,  469, 

470. 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,  564,  565,  626  ; 
Gallatin's  description  of,  in  1804,  323; 
his  diplomatic  assistance  in  1814,511 ; 
his   congratulations  on   the  treaty  of 
Ghent,    548 ;    influences    Gallatin    to 
write  on  Indian  ethnography,  644. 
Husbands,  Herman,  133. 
Huskisson,  William,  414,  618,  625,  626. 
Hutchinson,  Dr.,  his  character,  105 ;  death 

by  yellow  fever,  107. 
Hyde   de  Neuville,  French  minister  to 
the  United  States,  573,  574,  575,  582, 
583. 


Impressments,  502,  506,  512-518,  540, 
551,  570. 

Indemnities.     (See  France.) 

Indian  ethnology,  Gallatin's  writings  on, 
644,  645,  652,  677. 

Indian  sovereignty  at  the  Ghent  nego- 
tiation, 521,  527. 

Indians,  disturb  Monongalia  County,  55, 
62 ;  break  up  Gallatin's  settlement,  62, 
91,  112. 

Ingersoll,  C.  J.,  his  History  of  the  War 
of  1812,  462,  514. 

Ingersoll,  Jared,  440. 

Ingham,  Samuel  D.,  M.C.  from  Penn- 
sylvania, 582,  592. 

Internal  improvements,  85,  86,  157;  the 
National  Road,  167,  299,  350  ;  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's schemes  for,  350;  Gallatin's 
schemes  for,  350-352. 

Invisibles,  the,  427,  430. 

Irvine,  Gen.  William,  96,  98. 


J. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  497,  562;  Gallatin's 
opinion  of,  599;  his  political  remov- 
als from  office,  632,  633,  634;  a  dinner 
at  the  White  House,  634 ;  his  war  on 
the  U.  S.  Bank,  636,  639 ;  a  pugnacious 
animal,  651. 

Jackson,  Francis  James,  British  min- 
ister, 394,  396,  411,  412. 

Jackson,  John  G,,  M.C.  from  Virginia, 
341. 

Jay,  John,  65,  104,  186,  355,  485;  his 
treaty  with  England,  151,  155,  156, 
214,  669;  speeches  on,  155-157;  its 
merits,  158,  201;  its  effects,  159,  178; 
question  arising  on  its  execution,  160; 
debate  on,  160-166,  172. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  25,  65,  86,  175,  187, 
189,  202,  214,  228,  253,  394,  496,  513, 
577,  633,  636;  his  democratic  prin- 
ciples, 159,  170  ;  defeated  as  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  178;  his  Mazzei 
letter,  198 ;  his  conduct  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 606;  on  the  political  situation  in 
1798,  206;  and  in  1799,  219,  220;  his 
election  in  1800,  244;  contest  in  1801, 
244-262 ;  his  alleged  compromise  with 


INDEX. 


691 


the  Federalists,  247, 250;  elected  Presi- 
dent, 252,  262 ;  nominates  Gallatin  to 
the  Treasury,  263;  characteristics  of 
his  Administration,  269,  270,  272 ;  his 
New  Haven  letter,  278,  280,  281 ;  on 
the  interference  of  office-holders  in 
politics,  279;  his  ostracism  of  Burr, 
288,  289,  290,  313;  his  course  regard- 
ing the  navy,  291 ;  his  alleged  parsi- 
mony, 294 ;  his  want  of  humor,  306 ; 
his  dry-docks,  306;  on  balancing  Eng- 
land and  France,  310,  334,  356,  376; 
his  treatment  of  Duane,  311,  313,  330, 
439,  443 ;  on  the  constitutional  power 
to  acquire  territory,  321 ;  on  the  United 
States  Bank,  308,  321,  322,  665;  re- 
elected  President,  326;  his  Spanish 
policy  in  1805,  334,  335,  336,  337,  347; 
his  defence  of  Gallatin  against  Ran- 
dolph,  342,  343 ;  on  the  dissensions  of 
1806,  344;  on  a  national  university 
and  internal  improvements,  349,  350 ; 
on  gun-boats,  353;  his  rejection  of 
Monroe's  treaty,  355 ;  his  faith  in 
commercial  restrictions,  367,  368 ;  his 
abdication  of  power,  376,  377,  383; 
his  discouragement,  376,  379;  disas- 
trous close  of  his  Administration,  380, 
390,  391 ;  Erskine's  remarks  on,  381  ; 
on  the  defeat  of  the  war-policy  of  1809, 
385,  386 ;  on  Gallatin's  proposed  resig- 
nation, 407,  408 ;  on  the  dissensions  of 
1810,  418;  his  alleged  partiality  to 
France,  418,  419;  his  scheme  of  ad- 
ministration, 491,  492;  his  views  on 
Presidential  candidates  of  1822,  591, 
593 ;  his  mind  impervious  to  argument 
on  the  extension  of  slavery,  671. 

Johannot,  15. 

Jones,  Walter,  M.C.  from  Virginia,  190, 
222,  228. 

Jones,  William,  Secretary  of  War,  471. 

Judiciary  bill,  repeal  of,  274,  301. 


K. 

Kanawha  Kiver,  56,  61. 

Kentucky,  56. 

King,  Eufus,  104,  484,  490,  612,  613 ;  his 

political  theories,  272. 
Kinloch,  Francis,  15,  22,  24. 


Kirkpatrick,  Major,  burning  of  his  barn, 
130, 133. 

L. 

Lacock,  Abner,  582,  588,  602,  603,  604, 
605. 

La  Fayette,  General,  643,  654;  his  diplo- 
matic assistance  to  Mr.  Crawford,  511 ; 
his  interview  with  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, 512 ;  his  position  in  1817,  564  ; 
entertained  at  Friendship  Hill,  611, 
612. 

Lands,  public,  system  of,  167,  297,  298. 

Langdon,  John,  of  New  Hampshire,  222, 
253,  265. 

La  Place,  Pierre  Simon,  564. 

Law,  Mrs.  (Custis),  191,  194,  252,  303, 
305. 

Lawrence,  Cornelius  W.,  658. 

Lawrence,  William  Beach,  622,  628. 

Lee,  Henry,  249. 

Leib,  Michael,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Penn- 
sylvania, 313,  322,  328,  330,  388,  389, 
400,  401,  414,  429,  459,  484,  490. 

Lesdernier  de  Russin,  friends  of  Gallatin 
and  Serre  at  Machias,  30,  31,  35,  36, 
40. 

Lincoln,  Levi,  Attorney-General,  265, 
274,  298,  373;  his  character,  276; 
story  told  of  him,  277. 

Livermore,  Samuel,  112. 

Liverpool,  Lord,  on  the  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia, 516  ;  obliged  to  check  his  commis- 
sioners at  Ghent,  526 ;  accepts  the  In- 
dian article,  535 ;  his  embarrassment, 
536,  537 ;  his  appeal  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  538;  accepts  the  status 
quo  ante,  539 ;  his  death,  626. 

Livingston,  Brockholst,  236. 

Livingston,  Edward,  154,  156,  162,  212, 
228,  245,  246,  283,  284;  begins  the  de- 
bate on  Jay's  treaty,  160  ;  on  the  alien 
bill,  207,  219 ;  his  defalcation,  290. 

Livingston,  Chancellor  Robert  R.,  his 
character,  239 ;  minister  to  Paris,  307 

Logan's  Act,  215. 

Louis  XVIII.,  563. 

Louis  Philippe,  650. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  307,  310,  318; 
incorporation  of,  325,  673. 

Lowndes,  William,  M.C.  from  South  Car- 


692 


INDEX. 


olina,  445,  449,  473,  562;  Mr.  Craw- 
ford's comments  on,  581. 

Lowrie,  Walter,  Senator  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, 582,  592;  advises  Gallatin  to 
withdraw,  602,  603. 

Lyon,  Matthew,  M.C.  from  Vermont, 
560 ;  his  altercation  with  Roger  Gris- 
wold,  191-195;  his  imprisonment, 
219;  his  relations  with  Randolph, 
325,  329. 

M. 

Machias  in  1780,  30,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37. 

McClanachan,  Blair,  77,  185,  188. 

McKean,  Thomas,  Chief  Justice  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 84;  candidate  for  governor, 
227 ;  governor,  249 ;  offered  nomina- 
tion for  Vice-Presidency,  312 ;  de- 
clines, 312,  313  ;  his  account  of  Penn- 
sylvania politics,  313  ;  re-elected  gov- 
ernor by  Federalists,  330 ;  his  mistakes, 
331,  333,  442. 

McLane,  Louis,  his  instructions  as  min- 
ister to  England,  618,  619. 

Macon,  Nathaniel,  M.C.  from  North  Car- 
olina, 302,  473;  on  the  Chesapeake 
affair,  359,  362 ;  on  the  war  policy  of 
1808,  384;  his  navigation  bill  of  1809, 
413,  414,  415,  416 ;  his  Act  of  May  1, 
1810,  416 ;  its  effect,  419,  420,  421 ; 
opposes  the  bank  charter,  427 ;  refuses 
to  go  into  caucus,  591,  595-597. 

Madison,  James,  79,  83,  86, 154, 155, 156, 
166,  214,  219,  298,  300,  496,  636;  his 
speech  on  Jay's  treaty,  155,  162,  163; 
retires  from  Congress,  181 ;  his  nullifi- 
cation resolves,  211,  212,  374;  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  State,  265;  his 
influence  in  the  scheme  of  administra- 
tion, 268,  269,  272 ;  John  Randolph's 
attack  upon,  in  1806,  339,  340,  341, 
342,  344,  345 ;  candidate  for  the  Pres- 
idency, 346  ;  his  pamphlet  on  the  rule 
of  1 756,  348 ;  elected  President,  374 ; 
urges  Mr.  Jefferson  to  fix  a  policy, 
377,  378 ;  his  views  on  the  war  policy, 
384 ;  his  character,  384,  399,  459 ;  at- 
tempts to  make  Gallatin  Secretary  of 
State,  388-391,  633;  unfortunate  be- 
ginning of  his  Administration,  391, 
392;  his  message  of  1809,  412;  his 


course  towards  France  in  1810,  423, 
424,  425,  461;  his  course  regarding 
the  bank  charter,  416,  427 ;  dismisses 
Robert  Smith,  435 ;  appoints  Monroe 
Secretary  of  State,  435 ;  his  treatment 
of  Duane,  443 ;  his  attitude  towards 
the  war  party,  445,  448,  455,  460 ;  his 
opinion  of  their  measures,  449 ;  his 
share  in  causing  the  declaration,  456- 
459 ;  his  supposed  wish  to  lay  up  the 
frigates,  462-466 ;  reorganizes  his  Cab- 
inet, 468-470 ;  accepts  Russian  medi- 
ation, 477 ;  sends  Gallatin  to  Russia, 
477-479 ;  his  dangerous  illness,  484- 
488 ;  refuses  to  vacate  the  Treasury, 
486,  487 ;  disaffection  towards  him  in 
Washington,  529;  his  dismissal  of 
General  Armstrong,  530 ;  offers  the 
Treasury  to  Gallatin  in  1816,  557. 

Marbois,  Barbe",  52. 

Marshall,  Humphrey,  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky, 185. 

Marshall,  James,  91 ;  his  course  at  the 
Mingo  Creek  meeting,  128 ;  at  the 
Parkinson's  Ferry  meeting,  131,  132. 

Marshall,  John,  213,  277;  his  encour- 
agement to  Gallatin,  54;  his  talent, 
83;  his  views  on  blending  common 
law  and  equity,  81-83 ;  member  of 
Congress,  154—156;  on  the  sedition 
law,  211 ;  on  the  case  of  Jonathan 
Robbins,  231,  232 ;  Chief  Justice,  258. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  her  notes  of  Galla- 
tin's  conversation,  650,  651. 

Massachusetts,  account  of,  in  1780,  28, 
29. 

Masters,  Josiah,  M.C.  from  New  York, 
342,  343. 

Mediterranean  Fund.     (See  Finances.) 

Mexico,  war  with,  672,  673,  676,  677; 
Gallatin's  pamphlet  on,  677. 

Mifflin,  Thomas,  Governor  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, 86,  223. 

Mississippi,  navigation  of,  at  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent,  540-545 ;  in  1818,  570. 

Mitchell,  Stephen  N.,  112. 

Mitchill,  Samuel  L.,  237,  238. 

Monongahela  River,  55,  62,  63,  630,  646. 

Monongalia  County,  55,  58,  59,  62. 

Monroe,  James,  minister  to  France,  re- 
called by  Washington,  178,  179,  186; 


INDEX. 


693 


his  account  of  his  mission,  186 ;  din- 
ner to,  187;  sent  to  France  in  1802, 
307;  negotiates  treaty  with  England 
in  1806,  348,  355,  361,  616;  appointed 
Secretary  of  State,  435 ;  assumes  duties 
of  Secretary  of  War,  469,  470 ;  aspires 
to  be  "  generalissimo,"  471 ;  on  Galla- 
tin's  rejection  by  the  Senate,  484-486; 
urges  him  to  accept  the  French  mis- 
sion, 555;  elected  President,  559;  his 
Cabinet,  559;  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
614,  624. 

Monroe,  Mrs.  James,  594. 

Montgomery,  John,  M.C.  from  Maryland, 
Gallatin's  brother-in-law,  101. 

Moreau,  General,  499,  501,  509. 

Morgan,  Col.  Zach.,  59. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  111,  199,  254,  260. 

Morris,  Lewis  R.,  M.C.  from  Vermont, 
250,  254,  262. 

Morris,  Robert,  65,  66 ;  his  land  specula- 
tions, 53,  179;  buys  lands  of  Gallatin, 
121,  122, 152,  225;  on  the  eligibility  to 
office  of  actual  citizens  in  1788,  120  ; 
his  bankruptcy,  209,  210. 

Morton,  Col.  J.,  235,  236. 

Muhlenberg,  F.  A.,  166. 

Muhlenberg,  Peter,  249. 

Murray,  William  Vans,  his  nomination 
as  minister  to  France,  220,  221,  227, 
228. 

N. 

Napoleon  I.     (See  Bonaparte.) 

Navigation  act;  Macon's  bill,  413>  414, 
415,  416;  in  1817,  569. 

Navy,  a  subject  of  division,  157, 170-172  ; 
economy  in,  180,  217,  218,  229,  318, 
319;  Mr.  Jefferson's  conservatism  re- 
garding, 291 ;  dry-docks,  306 ;  Gal- 
latin's  complaints  of,  294,  354,  410; 
Randolph's  views  on,  325,  330,  335; 
Gallatin's  views  on,  157,  170, 171, 172, 
180,  217,  218,  229,  334,  335,  386;  the 
navy  coalition  of  1809,  387,  388,  399, 
400;  the  alleged  order  to  lay  up  the 
frigates  in  June,  1812,  462-466. 

Nesselrode,  Count,  497,  498,  504. 

Netherlands,  negotiation  with  the,  568. 

Neville,  General,  inspector  of  excise, 
124,  125. 


New  England,  her  attitude  in  the  war 
of  1812,  507,  509,  546;  her  people, 
651. 

New  Geneva,  578,  579. 

New  York  in  1783,  45,  68  ;  in  1795,  146  ; 
city  election  of  May,  1800,  232-241; 
politics  of,  288,  289. 

Newbold,  George,  658. 

Nicholas,  John,  M.C.  from  Virginia,  154, 
190, 193,  202,  212,  222,  253 ;  his  speech 
on  the  sedition  law,  219,  220. 

Nicholas,  Wilson  Cary,  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia, 154, 162,  253,  302,  387,  389, 401 ; 
favors  war  in  1808,  376. 

Nicholson,  Hannah  (Mrs.  Albert  Galla- 
tin), 303,  404;  her  family,  100;  de- 
scription of  her  person  and  charac- 
ter, 99,  108,  109 ;  her  dislike  of  the 
western  country,  259,  275 ;  her  death, 
678. 

Nicholson,  Commodore  James,  his  ori- 
gin, 100;  his  wife,  101,  647;  his  naval 
battles,  100;  his  brothers,  100;  his 
children,  101;  his  political  activity, 
101;  quarrel  with  Hamilton,  108,  153, 
154;  engages  in  the  city  election  of 
May,  1800,  232,  233;  urges  Burr  for 
Vice-President,  241,  242;  interview 
with  George  Clinton,  242;  urges  re- 
movals from  office,  282,  290;  is  ap- 
pointed loan  officer,  282,  303. 

Nicholson,  James  W.,  Gallatin's  brother- 
in-law,  481,  482,  598;  associated  in 
partnership  with  Gallatin  at  New 
Geneva,  152. 

Nicholson,  John,  Comptroller-General  of 
Pennsylvania,  his  impeachment,  97. 

Nicholson,  Joseph  Hopper,  M.C.  from 
Maryland,  101, 156,  262,  299,  302,  316, 
337,  338,  339,  344,  439;  accepts  seat 
on  the  bench,  344;  on  the  affair  of 
the  Chesapeake,  360;  attacks  General 
Smith,  401 ;  on  Gallatin's  proposed 
resignation,  403,  406;  urges  Gallatin 
to  return  to  the  Treasury,  558. 

Nicholson,  Maria,  marries  John  Mont- 
gomery, 101 ;  her  doubts  of  Burr's 
character,  244,  245. 

Non-intercourse,  386,  396,  397,  406,  413. 

Nullification  in  1798,  211,  212,  374;  in 
1833,  642,  648,  656. 


694 


INDEX. 


0. 

Ohio,  Gallatin's  expeditions  down  the, 
54,  55,  61,  62. 

O'Neal,  Peggy,  634. 

Orders  in  council  of  November  11, 1807, 
364,  365  (see  England) ;  regarding  the 
colonial  trade  in  1826,  615-617. 

Otis,  Harrison  Gray,  a  pupil  of  Gallatin's, 
43 ;  M.C.  from  Massachusetts,  154, 155, 
156,  192,  193,  202,  205 ;  on  the  sedi- 
tion bill,  208. 


P. 

Paine,  Thomas,  101,  102,  187,  325. 

Panama  Congress,  612. 

Parker,  Josiah,  M.C.  from  Virginia,  193, 
202. 

Parkinson's  Ferry,  meeting  at,  130-135, 
139. 

Pauly,  Louis,  69,  70,  71. 

Pennsylvania  (see  Western  Insurrection), 
adopts  the  Federal  Constitution,  77; 
its  constitutional  convention  of  1789- 
90,  79-83 ;  its  legislation,  1790-1795, 
84,  85,  86 ;  report  on  its  finances,  85  ; 
its  financial  condition,  86 ;  its  society 
in  1795, 146-147;  its  politics,  281,  311, 
326,  327,  328,  330,  331,  332;  Duane's 
schism,  290. 

Perceval,  Spencer,  Attorney-General  of 
England,  author  of  the  orders  in  coun- 
cil, 365. 

Perry,  Commodore,  529. 

Peters,  Judge  Richard,  148. 

Philadelphia,  45,  46,  54,  90 ;  yellow  fe- 
ver in,  105, 106,  107 ;  gentlemen  corps, 
142,  143. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  95,  184,  188,  436, 
457,  458. 

Pictet,  Catherine,  adoptive  mother  of 
Albert  Gallatin,  10,  16,  19,  24,  38,  39, 
42,  52,  74,  75,  94;  her  death,  152, 153. 

Pinckney,  C.  C.,  223 ;  to  be  supported 
for  the  Presidency  in  place  of  John 
Adams  by  the  Federalists,  241. 

Pinckney,  Charles,  260. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  178,  241. 

Pinkney,  William,  sent  minister  to  Eng- 
land in  1806,  348 ;  negotiates  treaty, 
355,  361  ;  Attorney-General,  395,  440. 


Pitt,  William,  his  sinking  fund,  173, 
174,  230,296,  326. 

Pittsburg,  54,  56,  61,  68 ;  meeting  of  Au- 
gust, 1792,  91,  92,  93,  123,  204;  seiz- 
ure of  its  mail,  128;  march  through, 
129 ;  occupied  by  the  U.  S.  militia, 
139. 

Porter,  Commodore,  529. 

Pozzo  di  Borgo,  564,  565. 

Pregny,  5,  6,  10,  16. 

Providence  in  1783,  44. 


Q. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  M.C.  from  Massachu- 
setts, his  speech  on  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  470. 

R. 

Randolph,  John,  154,  156,  302,  314,  316, 
389,  394,  459,  581;  causes  repeal  of 
internal  taxes,  295  ;  moves  resolutions 
regarding  Louisiana,  308 ;  on  Mr.  Gris- 
wold's  attack,  314,  315 ;  on  politics  in 
1804,  324;  on  a  naval  force,  325;  his 
attack  on  the  Yazoo  settlement,  328, 
329;  on  the  management  of  the  navy, 
330,  335 ;  on  politics  in  1805,  331-333  ; 
on  Mr.  Jefferson's  retirement,  333 ; 
his  course  regarding  the  purchase  of 
Florida  in  1805,  338-344;  against  con- 
tinuing the  embargo,  384;  on  Galla- 
tin's resignation,  430,  431 ;  his  temper 
and  eccentricities,  598. 

Redstone  Old  Fort,  meeting  at,  135-137. 

Reed,  Jacob,  Senator  from  South  Caro- 
lina, 185. 

Richelieu,  Duke  de,  French  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  567. 

Richmond,  1783-1789,  53,  54,  59,  61. 

Robbins,  Jonathan,  case  of,  231,  232. 

Roberts,  Jonathan,  M.C.  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, 473,  588;  his  reminiscences  of 
the  war,  476,  480. 

Robinson,  Frederick  (Lord  Goderich), 
550,  552,  570,  571,  618;  Prime  Minis- 
ter, 626. 

Rochefoucauld  d'Enville,  Due  de  la,  24. 

Rodgers,  Commodore,  465,  466,  529. 

Rodney,  Caesar  A.,  Attorney-General, 
366:  resigns,  440,  493. 


INDEX. 


695 


Rogers,  Richard,  naval  officer  of  the 
port  of  New  York,  281,  282 ;  question 
of  his  retention  in  office,  282-289. 

Rolaz  of  llolle,  Alphonse,  10,  11,  21,  74. 

Romanzoff,  Count,  Chancellor  of  the  Rus- 
sian Empire,  497 ;  anecdote  of  Na- 
poleon I.,  444 ;  his  policy,  498 ;  renews 
offer  of  mediation,  499,  503;  retires 
from  office,  504. 

Rose,  George,  British  Minister,  364,  367, 
394,  397. 

Ross,  James,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Penn- 
sylvania, 122,  185,  227. 

Rush,  Richard,  minister  to  England, 
569,  588. 

Russell,  Jonathan,  rejected  by  Senate  as 
minister  to  Sweden,  484  ;  sent  to  nego- 
tiate treaty  of  Ghent,  505;  his  share 
in  negotiation,  523,  541,  544;  his  con- 
troversy with  J.  Q.  Adams,  584. 

Russia.     (See  Alexander.) 

Rutherford,  John,  112. 

S. 

St.  Lawrence,  navigation  of,  550,  551, 
621,  625. 

Savary  de  Yalcoulon,  99,  643 ;  his  busi- 
ness in  America,  45 ;  assists  Gallatin, 
46,  55,  64;  enters  with  Gallatin  into 
land  speculations,  46,  53,  56,  59,  60, 
61,  70 ;  his  brick  house  at  Richmond, 
59  ;  attempts  a  settlement  on  the  Ohio 
with  Gallatin,  62 ;  returns  with  him  to 
George's  Creek  and  leases  land,  62; 
returns  to  Richmond,  63;  signs  Gal- 
latin's  marriage  bond,  71,  72;  his 
death,  560. 

Schools.     (See  Education.) 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  578. 

Sedgwick,  Theodore,  Senator  and  M.C. 
from  Massachusetts,  173,  185. 

Sedition  law,  203,  204,  206,  207,  208, 209, 
274. 

Seney,  Joshua,  M.C.  from  Maryland, 
Gallatin's  brother-in-law,  101. 

Serre,  Henri,  schoolmate  of  Gallatin's, 
15;  runs  away  with  Gallatin  from  Ge- 
neva, 17 ;  his  account  of  life  at  Machias, 
34,  35,  40;  his  character,  34,  39,  64: 
his  project  of  life,  40,  41 ;  goes  to  Ja- 


maica, 46,  49,  56;  dies,  46,  66;  Galla- 
tin's attachment  to  him,  50,  53,  55,  63. 

Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  M.C.  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, 154,  200;  the  first  man  of 
his  party,  188 ;  on  the  alien  law,  205. 

Sheldon,  Daniel,  secretary  of  legation 
and  charge"  d'affaires,  585,  586. 

Shepherd,  Abraham,  on  Mr.  Madison's 
share  in  declaring  war,  457,  458,  459. 

Short,  William,  rejected  as  minister  to 
Russia,  390. 

Sidmouth,  Lord,  364. 

Sinking  fund.     (See  Finances.') 

Sitgreaves,  Samuel,  M.C.  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, 122,  156. 

Slavery,  abolition  of,  86;  evils  of,  109, 
259  ;  exclusion  from  the  territory,  209, 
406 ;  Gallatin's  opinions  on,  671,  673, 
674. 

Smilie,  John,  91,  93,  125,  560. 

Smith,  Robert,  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  276,  333,  335;  Gallatin's 
complaints  of  his  administration,  294, 
386,  410  ;  Randolph's  complaints,  330; 
on  the  embargo,  373 ;  appointed  Sec- 
retary of  State,  389,  390,  633;  his 
course  in  the  Cabinet,  400,  415;  his 
purchases  of  exchange  on  Leghorn, 
401,  404;  his  despatches  in  July  and 
November,  1810,  423  ;  his  removal 
from  office,  430,  431,  435,  436,  437, 
439,  468. 

Smith,  Samuel,  M.C.  from  Maryland, 
253,  316,  490 ;  his  account  of  the  Lyon- 
Griswold  affair,  191;  his  intervention 
in  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  247, 
250,  251;  declines  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment, 265,  276;  U.  S.  Senator,  400; 
makes  his  brother  Secretary  of  State, 
389,  390 ;  his  drafts  on  Leghorn,  400- 
403 ;  becomes  hostile  to  Gallatin,  403  ; 
opposes  Macon's  bill,  415;  opposes  the 
bank  charter,  417,  428,  429,  430;  op- 
poses everything,  466  ;  takes  command 
in  Baltimore,  530 ;  resumes  relations 
with  Gallatin,  590. 

Smith,  William,  M.C.  from  South  Caro- 
lina and  minister  to  Portugal,  15,  154, 
173,  184. 

South  Carolina,  her  acts  in  ',833,  648. 

Spain,  her  conduct  toward?  America  in 


696 


INDEX. 


1793,  104;  interdicts  right  of  deposit, 
307;  protests  against  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  319 ;  her  course  in  1805, 
334 ;  Mr.  Jefferson's  policy  regarding, 
334-338,  347 ;  his  proposed  purchase 
of  Florida,  336;  her  affairs,  513;  her 
course  regarding  the  sale  of  Florida, 
572. 

Specie  payments,  suspension  of.  (See 
Finances.) 

Specific  appropriations,  157,  180,  299. 

Spencer,  John  C.,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, 666,  667. 

Stewart,  Andrew,  M.C.  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, 594,  606,  608. 

Stewart,  Commodore,  462,  463,  464,  466. 

Stockton,  Lucius  H.,  nominated  Secre- 
tary of  War,  258. 

Stoddart,  Benjamin,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  -265,  277. 

Stokeley,  Thomas,  176. 

Stone,  David,  Senator  from  North  Caro- 
lina, 484. 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  his  portrait  of  Gallatin, 
301. 

Suffrage,  universal,  Gallatin's  opinions 
on,  654,  655. 

Swanwick,  John,  M.C.  from  Pennsylva- 
nia, 188. 

Symmes,  John  Cleves,  182. 


T. 

Tahon,  keeper  of  a  boarding-house  in 
Boston,  26,  42. 

Talleyrand,  227 ;  Gallatin's  opinion  of, 
564. 

Tariff  in  1832,  640,  641,  642. 

Taxation,  local,  654. 

Tayloe,  Benjamin  Ogle,  564. 

Taylor,  John,  M.C.  from  South  Caro- 
lina, 416. 

Taylor  of  Caroline,  John,  212. 

Texas,  annexation  of,  672;  Gallatin's 
speech  on,  672-675. 

Thacher,  George,  M.C.  from  Massachu- 
setts, his  motion  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  Southwestern  Territory,  209. 

Thomas,  J.  B.,  Senator  from  Illinois,  592. 

Thomas,  John  Chew,  M.C.  from  Mary- 
land, 261,  262. 


Thompson,  John,  his  letters  of  Curtius, 
212,  213,  214,  227. 

Time-Piece,  New  York  newspaper,  196. 

Tom  the  Tinker,  149. 

Tompkins,  D.  D.,  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, 559. 

Tracy,  Uriah,  Senator  from  Connecticut, 
185. 

Treasury  Department,  its  importance, 
114,  167,  267 ;  its  severe  duties,  300, 
558;  its  early  position  towards  the  Ex- 
ecutive and  Legislature,  114;  annual 
report  from,  114;  Gallatin's  call  for 
statement  from,  115,  116,  118;  audit- 
or's office  burned,  258 ;  Gallatin  named 
for  Secretary,  258;  threatened  collapse 
in  1812,  473,  474;  offered  to  Gallatin 
in  1816,  557,  and  in  1843,  666,  667. 

Tripoli.     (See  Algerine  Powers.} 

Triumvirate,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Galla- 
tin, 269,  274,  470,  471,  496,  589,  598, 
599. 

Troup,  Col.  R.  M.,  581. 

Tyler,  President,  wishes  Gallatin  to  take 
the  Treasury,  666,  667. 

U. 

University,  national.     (See  Education.) 

V. 

Van  Bur  en,  Martin,  an  efficient  many 
593 ;  his  scheme  for  nominating  Mr. 
Clay  as  Vice-President,  602,  603,  605, 
632  ;  his  instructions  to  Mr.  McLane, 
618,  619;  his  position  in  1829,  632, 
634;  his  diplomacy,  667,  668. 

Vigel,  Philip,  condemned  to  death  for 
treason,  149,  150. 

Villars,  Due  de,  7. 

Virginia,  its  hospitality,  54,  67. 

Virginia,  resolutions  of  1798,  212,  374, 
379. 

Voltaire,  letters  and  notes  of,  3,  6,  7,  8 ; 
verses  by,  7,  16,  17. 

W. 

War  of  1812,  175 ;  causes  of,  411,  448, 
449,  455,461;  declaration  of,  456-459; 
sending  the  frigates  to  sea,  465 ;  col- 
lapse of  the  administrative  system, 


INDEX. 


697 


467;  military  disasters,  467, 468,  469 ; 
condition  of  Washington,  529;  cap- 
ture of  Washington,  518,  529,  533 ; 
danger  of  Baltimore,  529,  530 ;  defeat 
of  Sir  George  Prevost  at  Plattsburg, 
539 ;  suspension  of  specie  payments, 
553,  556,  561,  657. 

Washington,  meetings  at,  129;  county 
of,  128,  129,  131,  141;  elects  Gallatin 
to  Congress,  140. 

Washington,  the  Federal  city,  description 
of,  in  1801,  252,  253,  255;  Gallatin's 
house  in,  302;  its  destruction,  529; 
capture  of,  528,  529  ;  society  of,  594. 

Washington,  George,  194,  223,  267,  268, 
310,  651;  his  land  speculations,  53; 
his  first  meeting  with  Gallatin,  56-59  ; 
his  locations  of  land  on  the  Ohio,  62 ; 
his  first  Administration,  86,  104,  159 ; 
his  second  Administration,  111,  162, 
178;  his  course  in  regard  to  the 
whiskey  rebellion,  134,  138,  139  ;  in 
regard  to  Jay's  treaty,  158,  163,  164 ; 
his  manners  and  temper,  182;  his 
death,  229. 

Washington,  Mrs.,  182. 

West  India  trade.   (See  Colonial  Trade.) 

Western  insurrection,  causes  of,  88  (see 
Excise),  123,  124;  outbreak  of,  124; 
duration  of,  125 ;  Mingo  Creek  meet- 
ing, 125;  seizure  of  the  mails,  128; 


rendezvous  of  the  militia  at  Braddock's 
Field,  129, 130 ;  meeting  at  Parkinson's 
Ferry,  128,  130, 131-135  ;  at  Redstone 
Old  Fort,  135-137  ;  partial  submission, 
137,  138 ;  march  of  the  militia,  138, 
139,  141 ;  trials  for  treason,  147-150. 

Wellesley,  Marquess,  successor  to  Mr. 
Canning,  411,  412. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  527,  540,  546. 

Whiskey.  (See  Excise,  and  Western  In- 
surrection.) 

Wilkinson,  Gen.  James,  319,  485. 

Willard,  Joseph,  President  of  Harvard 
College,  42,  43. 

William  IV.,  650. 

Wilson,  James,  84,  441. 

Wirt,  William,  342,  439. 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, 182,  184,  202,  300. 

Woolsey,  William  W.,  235. 

Worthington,  Thomas,  Senator  from 
Ohio,  350,  457,  458,  459,  489. 


X.  Y.  Z.  despatches,  200. 

Y. 

Yazoo  land  claims,  298,  328,  329. 
Yellow  fever  in  1793,  105,  106,  107, 108, 


THE  END. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 

To  renew  by  phone,  call  429-2756 

Books  not  returned  or  renewed  within  14  days 

after  due  date  are  subject  to  billing. 


Series  2373 


